Destiny Bond
by RunsWithScizors
Summary: Calem never thought he'd be a Chosen One. Serena never thought she'd be facing death on her journey. And Professor Sycamore never expected that his good friend would be a criminal mastermind, but some things just can't be predicted. (XY)
1. Dawn of the First Day

**Hello, readers new and old. It's been too long since we last had a story going.**

 **Our story this time will try to bring back some things we missed about our take on Gen V. The humor will still be commentary on the games and villain songs, but we will also add stupid humor and maybe even confirm a few ships. This chapter will be full of references, so be prepared to keep them all straight.**

 **Now that the important parts are out of the way, it's time to get started.**

In the Kalos region, there was a town. In this town, there was a house. In this house, there was a bed. And in this bed, there was a boy.

This boy was dreaming of riding his mother's Rhyhorn down the street, a reoccurring thought. In fact, it was so realistic that he wasn't even aware he was sleeping until he felt something small and hard dive-bomb him. Letting out a cry of pain and surprise, the boy tumbled out of bed, the thud being heard even from downstairs.

The woman smiled to herself. _Good_ , she thought, _he's up. Took him long enough._

When the boy came downstairs, still in his pajamas, he was holding her Fletchling by the feet, ignoring the bird's attempts at escape and cries for help.

"Why?" he asked, not specifying what he was talking about. But the woman merely returned to making their usual Saturday pancake breakfast, knowing exactly what he meant.

"I'd already called you four times," she pointed out. "Each time, you said that you'd be down in a minute."

"And you believed me?"

She put a plate in front of him, scooping the pancakes onto a tray to make a buffet line. "Just because you're seventeen now doesn't mean you can spend all summer up in your room, sleeping and playing your violent video games."

"I only have _one_ violent video game, Mom," the boy protested.

"Don't you kill things in your Zelda collection?"

"Well, yeah...but Zelda has an actual plot. It's not just 'kill monsters,' it's 'kill monsters, protect Hyrule and save the princess from being used as a human sacrifice.'"

"I'm not going for technicalities, Calem," the woman sighed. "It's summer! You're out of school, you don't have homework, and we just moved to a new region! Make some new friends, call your old ones, meet a girl, just do _something._ "

Calem grumbled something incomprehensible, but released the Fletchling and piled pancakes onto his plate.

The knock at the door interrupted the discussion, and the woman opened it. There stood two pretty girls, both around her son's age. The shorter one looked about fifteen, just short, while the taller seemed to be around seventeen herself. The tall one cleared her throat nervously, before deciding to just wing it.

"Hi, I'm Serena. I live here in town, and Shauna and I were told that there was a boy here?"

Wheels began turning in the woman's head, and she recalled the words she'd said to Calem moments earlier. _Make new friends...meet a girl..._

Well, two girls around his age would make perfect friends.

"You know, I was just telling my son he should make some new friends." She shot an irritated look back into the house when she heard Calem's whine, but continued anyway. "What brings you by this early in the morning?"

Serena tried peeking into the house, but Calem had taken his breakfast to the couch and was now watching television. "I was asked to bring him along to a meeting, and Shauna here is always interested in meeting new friends. Can you convince him for us?"

The woman smiled. "If you'll give me a few minutes, I'm sure I can."

When Calem stepped out of the house half an hour later, fully dressed and slightly crabby, he couldn't stop the groan of frustration that escaped him.

"What kind of mission is this?" he asked, and Shauna just smiled.

"You'll see," she cheered, bouncing a little in her excitement. "We're running late already, we have to get to Aquacorde Town!"

* * *

Aquacorde Town wasn't that much different from Vaniville. The only things Calem noticed were Serena, Shauna, and two boys that seemed to be younger than he was. There was a taller, chubbier fellow, and a kid that looked closer to twelve than seventeen, with obnoxiously bright red hair.

"There you are!" the tall one laughed, waving them down. "Over here, Trevs and I already picked our Pokémon out!"

"You what?" Serena gasped, pretending to care. "Tierno, I'm shocked! Haven't you guys ever heard of the expression 'ladies first?' Shauna and I weren't even here!"

Tierno pretended to hit her with the lid of the box. "Maybe if you had hurried up, you could have had a chance."

"Hey, it's not our fault. We had to go and collect this rock."

She gestured to Calem, who had slumped down at the table behind them. He lifted a hand in a half-hearted attempt at a wave.

"Hey," he said shortly, and rested his face against the table.

Shauna reached over and pulled him out of the seat, and Calem noticed that she had quite a bit of strength for such a small girl. "You're not really a morning person, are you?" she asked, and the boy shook his head.

"Not at all."

"Well, you should probably get over that, because we're here for a reason!" She pointed into the box. "In there are actual, living, breathing Pokémon. Professor Sycamore sent them, just for the five of us! Well, three," she corrected herself, shooting a pointed look at Trevor and Tierno. " _Some_ people are just impatient, it seems."

"Just shut up and pick your starters," was the only thing Tierno had to say.

Calem peeked into the box, almost fully awake by excitement alone, having never seen the Kalos starters. Through the semi-transparent red lids of the balls, he could make out what appeared to be a frog (clearly the Water-type) and a fox and...

Was that an otter? But the frog was an aquatic animal...

"I pick this one," he said, reaching in and puling out the ball with the mystery Pokémon. "I've got enough questions - who you guys are, why Mystery Professor chose me - and I think taking this little guy or girl will speed up the answering process."

"That is a Chespin," Serena said, reaching into the box and choosing her own starter from the options. "It's the local Grass-type starter. As for who we are...Trevor is a photographer, and the one who has actually met Professor Sycamore in person. Tierno is a dancer, and I think the reason he was chosen for a Pokedex instead of just going on a journey was because the professor really wants to see a dancing Haxorus or something. Shauna here may look cute and unassuming, but she once watched a medical training video for fifty bucks and didn't puke once."

"I forgot about that," Shauna said with a grin, picking up the last Pokeball. "I guess I just have really strong willpower."

"She used witchcraft," Trevor muttered, clearly not intending to be heard.

Shauna stuck out her tongue, but otherwise left the comment alone. "And Serena's had modeling jobs," she explained, to Serena's embarrassment.

"One job," Serena corrected quietly. "I've been in online advertisements for my aunt's shop."

"You're a model?" Calem asked the question before he could stop himself. "Why did Professor Sycamore choose a model for a Pokedex adventure?"

"My dad was an active Champion," Serena said, as if that was a good enough answer, "and he met my mom when she challenged him."

"So he picked you because it's in the blood."

Serena took a while to answer that one. "It could be," she finally said, "but I was adopted, so I don't know. My... _current_ parents are the ones I was talking about. They probably told him that I was good at using their Pokémon for battle."

"You'll be fine," Tierno said, but, figuring a change in topic was in order, he turned to Calem. "What about you?"

"Huh?" Calem was pulled rather forcibly from his thoughts, and when he realized that all of them were looking at him, he cleared his throat. "Oh. I'm Calem Xavier. I play video games, and I was thinking of starting a Let's Play channel before the girls showed up and my mom threw me out."

But the others had stopped listening almost immediately. "Your last name is Xavier?" Serena looked like he'd just told her she'd won the lottery, and she turned to Shauna, almost begging. "You were talking about nicknames," she said innocently, and Calem was instantly on guard. "What do you say to calling him Professor X?"

Well, there were worse ways this nickname thing could have gone. At least 'Professor' showed respect. Sycamore might not like it, _he_ worked hard for the title, but he might understand the reference.

"I don't know," Shauna said uncertainly, eyeing Calem carefully. "He's got the name for it, but..."

"I'm fine with it," Calem promised. "Just as long as I get to pick a nickname for her. I'm thinking Rini, because it's short and annoying, just like her."

"You're not that much taller than me," Serena protested, but Shauna laughed out loud.

"Rini it is," she decided. "They started calling me 'Shaunee,' Tierno's been calling Trevor 'Trevs' since we got here, and Tierno..." She frowned. "I don't think he's got one yet."

"Just call me T," Tierno said, poking himself in the chest with a thumb. "Unless you can call me Batman."

"Can't," Shauna said, tugging on the scrunchy she wore around her wrist. "Xavier has the name for a superhero, you don't. Unless you get superpowers, we can't keep up the name theme."

"Batman doesn't have superpowers," Tierno pointed out. "And neither does Calem, so you didn't think that argument through."

"How would you know Calem doesn't have superpowers?" Trevor asked, again keeping mostly quiet.

"We're not calling you Batman," Serena said, as if she had the final say in the matter. "What about nicknaming our Pokémon, instead?"

Shauna held her starter's ball hopefully. "I got the Froakie, and it says mine's a girl. Since we decided that the name Xavier made a reference too good to ignore, I'll continue with the fiction theme. I'm thinking...Nya."

Trevor seemed to be the only one who understood where that nickname came from. "After the character from that Lego show?"

"Why not?" She tapped Froakie's ball. "It kind of fits, and...well, she'll grow into it."

Trevor grinned at the joke. The others all agreed not to ask.

"I'm not giving mine a name," Tierno announced. "Giving Pokémon nicknames sounds like it could get confusing."

"Only for people not involved in your journey," Shauna protested, but she agreed that it was his decision to make. "What about you, Rini?"

"Juliet," Serena answered immediately. "No question there. What about yours, Calem?"

Calem stared at his new Chespin through the case. He didn't know how Serena and Shauna could tell that theirs were female - he assumed his was a boy, due to the average gender ratio that starter Pokémon usually had, but maybe the professor had managed to pull a few strings for an all-female selection?

Shauna passed him a sheet of paper. It said that there were two females in the group, a Froakie and a Fennekin. The Chespin, it stated, was male. Uncertain of what to expect, he released his Pokémon, taking his first look at him.

It wasn't an otter after all. It was a small brown rodent, with what looked like an unripe nut on its head.

"Eddie," he decided, and the Chespin looked up at him, mildly confused. "We'll show you the references for Shauna and Serena's choices when we get home. Which," he added, glaring pointedly at the girls, "is where we're heading. Tell the professor that I said thank you for the Pokémon, but that I have no idea what he wants from me and my mom might say no."

"I think he made plans for that," Tierno said, pulling a letter from the box. "Your mom's name is Grace, right?"

"It is."

"Good. Then this is hers." He handed over the letter, where Calem noticed that it was on very nice paper. "I think it might be one of those 'I'm sending your kid on an adventure' things that professors are known for."

"Why couldn't he call her instead?"

"Because he's weird like that." Serena rolled her eyes. "Mom and Dad met him in person to put in the request for my Pokedex, they said that he takes some getting used to."

Calem looked down at Eddie, as if hoping that his new Chespin had a reply somewhere. Eddie had no suggestions.

Calem actually didn't care. He had a Pokémon. And Trevor handing out Pokedexes was a bonus he hadn't been expecting.

"Hey, Calem! Before you go, how about a battle?"

And Shauna's challenge was an even better surprise.

* * *

It was a very fast battle.

Calem wasn't used to starter Pokémon knowing a move of their own type as soon as the trainer had picked them out, but then, he wasn't used to Kalos, either. Or being a trainer, for that matter.

Still, with Eddie knowing Vine Whip and Nya being a Water-type, the Froakie was down in five minutes, and the Chespin jumped up to high-five his new trainer.

Did Pokémon usually like their trainers this fast?

"I wasn't done watching her yet!" Shauna complained, diverting his attention. "You could have at least pretended to take damage!"

"I thought being a trainer was about bonding with Pokémon and all that." Calem looked down at Nya, who was getting to her feet and looking up at Shauna with big eyes. "She forgives you."

"I know she does." Shauna got down and scooped the Froakie into her arms. "Come on, Nya. Let's get you healed."

"I'll lead you," Tierno said, jumping to his feet, and they walked off into the distance. Trevor followed, mumbling an excuse of returning to Professor Sycamore, leaving Calem and Serena alone.

Calem had never been with a girl unsupervised before. He hoped it didn't show. "So," he said, trying to think of a way to make conversation, "have you battled Trevor with your...uh..."

"Fennekin," Serena finished helpfully. She didn't seem to mind that he'd forgotten. "And her name is Juliet."

"As in that play where a war between families makes everyone die?"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than he mentally slapped himself. _This_ was why he needed supervision around girls.

But Serena laughed it off. "An unintentional reference, but I guess so. We're hoping to live." She started on her way home, and then looked back. "Well? You have a letter to deliver to your mom, and we both have Pokémon to show off. I'm sure she'll want to know what you chose."

Calem wanted to know what Serena planned to accomplish on her journey, but he followed her back home without saying a word, Eddie behind him and Juliet in her ball.

If he was going on a journey, a real one instead of staying behind a screen, he had plenty of time to get to know her.


	2. Traveling Buddies

**Rhyhorn is a Kalosshipper. That or it just wants Calem to get any girlfriend and out of the house.**

Serena left him at the entrance to town, saying that she was going to show Juliet to her mom and pack for her journey. Calem, before he had really processed, said goodbye and walked into his own house.

Grace's Rhyhorn noticed something was off immediately, and came closer to investigate. Calem stood still, letting Rhyhorn search and find what was different by itself, and he could almost see the surprise when Rhyhorn processed that it was not a _wild_ Chespin that had followed Calem home.

Calem smiled and petted its horn. "Rhyhorn, this is Eddie. He's going to be my partner on a journey. I'm sure Mom will clear everything up if you annoy her enough."

Eddie waved hello. Rhyhorn bumped its horn against his paw. Calem stared at the door, slowly gathering his courage.

Then he pushed open the door, and let his Pokémon walk in first. Grace noticed Eddie immediately.

"So that's what the girls were here for," she said, smiling a little. "They wanted to give you a Pokémon as a welcome gift."

"Not entirely," Calem confessed, handing over the letter from Professor Sycamore.

Grace went a little starry-eyed as she took the letter. "Is this a love letter?" she teased, opening it and dramatically sniffing the envelope. "This Sycamore has lovely writing..."

"Mom." The word was short and blunt, not long and high-pitched. He didn't need to whine to get his point across.

Grace wasn't paying attention, instead reading the professor's note for what it was. When she finished, she folded it up and placed it on the counter. "We just got here," she said sadly.

Calem had thought the same thing, but he had changed his mind, and was now quick to defend the professor. "You did want me to make friends and meet girls, right? Well, I met two kids of each gender, so that's four potential friends. _And_ it would get me off the screen for a while."

The last part got through to her. "Well, this house has been a bit empty of Pokémon, with just Rhyhorn and Fletchling," she agreed. "Why not? Let's go get you and your Chespin ready!"

He didn't complain when she told him to pack clean clothes, a Town Map, and toys for his Pokémon. She would know what a trainer needed better than he would.

* * *

He left the house with Eddie safely back in his ball, deciding that he was cute but his legs too short to keep up. He was going to look for Serena's house, and ask if she wanted to start the journey together.

Keeping his Pokémon in the ball was a good idea after all, because Rhyhorn stood up and blocked his path. Calem wasn't sure that Eddie could make it without getting stomped.

Calem heard his mother laughing from the doorway. "Rhyhorn wants to see you off on your journey," she explained. "It's known you since you were born, so it wants to say goodbye in its own way."

 **"He's growing up so fast,"** Rhyhorn agreed.

Calem met Rhyhorn's eyes. There was no indication that Grace had gotten anything wrong. "Ok," he said, kneeling down. "How, exactly, do you want to say goodbye?"

Ten seconds later, he was on the Rhyhorn's back as it carried him to the edge of town, and was perfectly fine with it until he heard a girl's laughter. He immediately turned red, and Serena at least covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry," she said, pulling herself together enough. "I just thought it was cute, you riding your mom's Rhyhorn like that."

"I'm not cute," Calem protested. "Eddie and Juliet are cute."

Serena held up her hands. "I'm sorry, Mr. Macho," she said, closing her eyes to hide the unintentional roll. "I was going to ask if you wanted to be my partner on this journey, but I guess you want to prove yourself on your own. I can respect that."

Rhyhorn bucked under him, as if nudging him forward. Calem retorted by gently kicking it in the side. "Want a ride?" he offered, and her laughter instantly ceased. "Don't worry, Mom trained Rhyhorn for this."

"I'd rather not," Serena said, tugging on her skirt to make it obvious why. "I'll walk."

"If you insist." Calem hopped off of Rhyhorn, patting it on the head as a goodbye gesture. "We'll both walk. If we're going to be rivals, we might as well make it even."

"My Pokémon has a type advantage over yours," Serena started, but Calem waved it off.

"So we're not even yet. We'll get there eventually." Rhyhorn made a sound that made it very clear that it expected more than 'rivals' from them. Calem gave it another harmless kick, and it headed back home, chuckling. "Well? Are we going?"

Serena laughed again, with him and not at him this time. "I don't see why not."

* * *

They left Aquacorde Town together, but soon after, they found Shauna standing just past a patch of tall grass, her eyes locked on a Pokémon.

She looked up as she heard them get closer. "Hey, guys! I was wondering where you were!"

"Hi, Shauna." Serena didn't sound too enthusiastic to see her friend. "I thought you were going to go ahead of us."

"I was," Shauna confessed, "but then Nya got hurt, and I realized that I didn't want to hurt other Pokémon, but they wanted to battle and I didn't have any Pokeballs, and they refused to let us run, so..."

"It's not an official battle until Nya is out of her ball," Serena pointed out. "Do you at least know how to send her out?"

"I'm not an idiot, Rini." Shauna crossed her arms in clearly faked anger. "I throw the ball, out comes the Froakie."

"And do you know how to catch a new Pokémon, Shauna?"

Shauna was silent. Calem facepalmed. Serena, on the other hand, chose to be a good friend and not make fun of her for it.

"All you need to do is find a Pokémon, battle it a little, and throw an empty Pokeball at it. Should I show you?"

"No need," Shauna said, feeling more than a little stupid. "I got it."

Calem tried to make eye contact with Serena, silently asking her to reconsider if she was thinking about inviting Shauna on their journey with them. He didn't want her slowing them down.

But he didn't need to worry. Shauna had released Nya and charged down the path, both letting out warrior cries. Serena waited two seconds before calling after them.

"Do you even have Pokeballs?"

Shauna and Nya didn't even stop, just pulled a U-turn and raced back to Aquacorde Town. Calem pulled Serena back as they disappeared into town, keeping her from going ahead.

"I don't have Pokeballs, either. I didn't know there was a Pokémon Center in Aquacorde."

"There isn't." Serena pulled her ponytail over her shoulder, twisting the ends around her finger. "But there is a Pokeball shop. Let's go and get you stocked."

* * *

"Wait up!"

Calem and Serena had just made it to Santalune Forest when Shauna caught up with them again. Trevor and Tierno had both gotten lost, so the entire gang was together in time to either escape as a unit or die scared and hungry in a pile. Time would tell.

"Thank you," Shauna said, adjusting her bag. "I had to go back to get supplies. I have more than enough potions for all of us. Just call me Doctor Shauna."

"Pokémon healers are known as nurses," Trevor pointed out.

"I've got bandages for human boo-boos, too." Shauna smiled innocently. "Healers for both humans and Pokémon are doctors." And she stuck out her tongue as if she'd won the argument.

"Boo-boos?" Calem repeated, wondering just how old his fellow Pokedex holders were. He'd assumed Serena was seventeen like him, but were the others _ten?_ "I am almost a grown man, Shauna. I don't get boo-boos."

Tierno casually poked him with a sharp stick. Calem's cry of "Owie!" was enough for him.

Calem gripped his shoulder, more hurt by the fact that he'd been betrayed by his new friend than the sting of a sharp bit of wood poking him through the sleeve. "What was that for?"

"You're right," Tierno said, nodding wisely and pretending he hadn't heard. "You're too manly, how do you survive?"

"I will end you, dancer."

Tierno whistled innocently and swung the stick like a lightsaber.

Serena waved a map around to get everyone's attention. "If we stay together, we can all use this," she said, pointing it out. "There are plenty of dead ends, but if we stay on the trail, we'll get out of here in no time, even letting in a few detours to take those dead ends and catch Pokémon."

Calem still hadn't forgiven Tierno, but the thought of catching new Pokémon was a decent distraction. He'd get his revenge someday.

They were in a forest, and he had more important things on his mind than vengeance. It was time to take a poll, before they were all separated or he forgot the question.

"Who do you guys think would win in a fight?" Calem asked suddenly, distracting all of them from their Pokémon hunting. "Forest gods or sky gods?"

"Forest gods?" Serena asked uncertainly, clearly wondering if Professor Sycamore had made the right decision when picking this kid.

Calem immediately crossed his heart. "It's a gaming thing, I swear. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm just stuck on a level."

"Forest gods," Serena repeated, slightly more sure of herself this time, yet clearly confused about Professor Sycamore's reasons for choosing Calem, out of all the boys in Kalos he had never met. "It's always the forest gods."

"Are you kidding?" Trevor said, louder than Calem had ever heard him speak before. "Sky gods have the advantage of flying. Forest gods are restricted to the forest."

"But what about the home-field advantage?" Shauna suggested. "The sky gods have to go down to the forest for the fight, which the forest gods know much better."

"But the sky gods can fly!"

Calem leaned back against a tree, his hands in his pockets. "I'm on the side of the sky gods, myself," he decided. "Trevor's right, they can fly. If we apply basic knowledge of Pokémon type advantages, then I should be able to challenge Zephyr first and use his powers in the fight against -"

He was cut off by a Metapod falling from the tree and hitting his head, knocking him down. As Doctor Shauna came to the rescue, he raised a hand and waved an imaginary flag.

"That settles it. Forest gods are superior to everything, and I should just quit while I'm ahead." He groaned into the dirt. "I think I got a boo-boo."

The Metapod was very disappointed.


	3. The First Capture

**Of course the event that names the chapter takes place during a scene break. We go for comedy, not for details.**

Shauna had searched for a Pikachu, but so far had only found more healing supplies. She wasn't disappointed, and passed them out to her friends, saying that if they were all going on separate adventures anyway, they might as well have their own supplies.

"Are you sure?" Calem asked, taking the Paralyze Heal she offered but not putting it in his bag yet. "Serena and I are teaming up, we can split our own stuff. You don't need to get us travel supplies."

"I'm only giving out the stuff I found," Shauna pointed out. "The stuff I bought is all mine. Besides, I'm super-observant. My mom says it's a gift, but I've just trained myself on puzzles all my life."

Calem took a moment to remind himself that this girl had willingly taken a bet that required her to watch a medical training video, which could have been simply making a cast for a broken bone but could have dealt with heart surgery for all he knew, and he immediately required no further explanation on anything she did.

Of course, he liked puzzles, too. But in his case, it just meant he was slightly better at mazes - he usually had guidebooks to point him to the hidden objects, and to give him the maze he had to solve. His game strategies had nothing to do with his real life attention span.

The conversation was interrupted by Tierno, who by now was bored. "Are we done yet?" he asked, and Shauna looked over Calem's shoulder. "Serena said we were almost out of the forest."

"I also said that I wrote down advice, but then you said that you could handle it." Serena sounded bitter. Calem didn't know why.

"I said it because we all know how to catch Pokémon and that they grow from battles." Tierno wasn't going to apologize, it seemed. "None of that other stuff is interesting, Rini."

" _You're_ not interesting."

Tierno pretended to stab himself with the stick he'd poked Calem with, but put it in his bag when Shauna and Trevor agreed that they were done. Calem looked around at the forest, debating if it was worth it to stay and catch more Pokémon, but followed his friends out anyway.

They all moved together, too. It was kind of cool.

* * *

"So what do you want to do?"

Serena's question had come out of nowhere. Calem wasn't sure what she meant by it, either. "Do I have options?" he asked, a bit more forcefully than he intended.

"You always have options. You're out exploring Kalos completely unsupervised! Think hard, what would you do if you had the choice?"

"I didn't have a choice in being a trainer," he reminded her. "I just woke up one morning and you and Shauna showed up at my door, and then I was gone with only a day's worth of food. I don't know what I want to do with myself, and I don't know what Eddie wants us to do."

"It is hard for them to tell us," Serena agreed. She brought out the map again, studying their current location. "What about the Gym challenge? You like video games, right? Don't they have 'trainer simulation' games out there?"

"I'm more into the saving the world kind," Calem tried to explain, but Serena's smile got bigger.

"There's always that chance," she teased. When Calem didn't answer, she switched tactics. "Hey, don't worry. You don't have to if you don't want to."

But he had made up his mind. "I think I do want to," he said, and Serena looked happy for a moment. "What about you? Is there something you want to do?"

Serena put a finger to her lips. "Spoilers," she said, as if it mattered. "I've already started on my path. Now, what do you plan to do about the Santalune City Gym Leader?"

"I'll catch more Pokémon." He shrugged, like it meant nothing. "I've figured out how things work. Type advantage, power levels...I might not even need a second Pokémon if I can get this little guy to evolve."

"We should look anyway." Serena pulled him away. "And I suggest we start now. The sooner we finish our adventure, the sooner you can go home and start showing the internet your game collection."

That did make him feel better.

* * *

They made it to the actual Santalune City, where Serena decided to stop to look through the hat boutique. Nothing she saw was very interesting to her, and Calem had been bored from the start, so they moved on to the Gym, their Pokémon following behind them.

The sign said that the Gym Leader used Bug-types. Calem, naturally, wished that he had been the one to pick Juliet, instead.

"Is there any chance of us trading Pokémon, Rini?"

Serena shook her head. "Even if we did," she pointed out, "the odds of Juliet actually obeying your orders are slim. Some Pokémon like to mess with their trainers' heads if they got them through trade, and if we're being honest, Juliet seems like the type of Pokémon that would do that."

Calem hadn't known that she knew Juliet that well, but Juliet's too-innocent expression and soft tail swish proved that Serena had been right. It almost made him feel guilty for not spending an hour playing with his Chespin.

"So we'll do it the normal way," he said, pushing the feeling aside. "We train and catch more Pokémon. Which way is closest to the Pokémon League?"

"We should just go back and look for a Fletchling in Santalune Forest," Serena started, but Calem and Eddie were heading off in a random direction, as if they didn't care about rules. Serena started to object, but they pretended that they didn't hear her.

Juliet looked up to meet her trainer's eyes. **"I know Ember,"** she suggested hopefully, but the oblivious Serena called her back to her ball and followed.

By sheer luck, Calem had managed to pick the one place that actually was close enough to the Pokémon League, and had found a Litleo to battle.

"This thing's a Fire-type, right?" he asked Serena, and she confirmed it just as Eddie knocked it down. "Then I'll catch the next one I see."

"The Gym Leader might have a backup plan for Fire trainers," Serena tried to say, but Calem laughed it off.

"I'm on my first badge," he told her. "They have to go easy on me now. The hard stuff is usually the Elite Four."

Serena watched as he and his Pokémon went deeper into the grass, searching for another Litleo. Deciding to give up, she sent out Juliet.

"Practice," she explained when her Fennekin looked up, confused. "Just because Calem is breaking the set path for Vaniville Town trainers doesn't mean that we can fall behind. After all," she added, watching as Eddie found one willing to be caught, "somebody has to keep him in shape. It might as well be us."

When she put it that way, Juliet had to agree, and immediately found a Litleo for her own battle.

* * *

"You know that having a boy Litleo is rare, right?" Tierno asked when they ran into him at the Pokémon Center. "You found one on your second try?"

"Gender rarity isn't important," Calem pointed out. "I caught him for a Gym battle. He's got to be good."

"But your _second try!"_

"There's no law saying that someone has to search for hours to find the unusual gender," Serena said, before the boys could pointlessly argue any more. "You should consider him lucky and not try to question it."

Tierno was about to protest, but dropped it, instead sitting down at a table. "Good luck in your battle, Calem," he said. "I'm going to stay behind and plan new dance routines."

So it was only ten minutes later Calem and Serena found themselves in front of the Gym, waiting for the roller-skater in front of the doors to move.

"I'm here for a battle," the skater said, sounding like she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "People want to challenge this Gym? They have to be ready. I want to make sure I'm ready."

"But I came for a Gym battle!" Calem complained.

Serena shushed him. "I've got this," she promised, and looked down at the skater's feet. A second later, she gasped as if she hadn't noticed. "Where did you get your skates? I've heard the boutique in this town only sells hats!"

"That's my secret," the skater said happily. "I'll gladly give it up...if you beat me in a battle."

Well, providing a distraction didn't turn out at all like Serena had hoped. "Why can't you just tell me now?"

"So much for handling it," Calem stage-whispered. Serena flicked him on the shoulder.

"I'll battle you, then," Serena said, her hand already on Juliet's ball. "I'm warning you now, though: I'm a Pokedex carrier."

The skater laughed. "I've always wanted to battle a lab Pokémon," she said, picking out her own partner. "This should be fun."

And Calem, of course, was forced to watch. But he didn't mind. It was better than having to go back to heal his Pokémon.


	4. Spiders and Shippers

**Viola might not be Peter Parker, but even she can sense the imminent threat.**

Each trainer only had one Pokémon, so the battle didn't take long. A few Embers from Juliet was all the skater's Zigzagoon could handle, but that meant nothing to the trainers. Serena was happy that she won her first official trainer battle, while the skater was happy that she had gotten to see one of Professor Sycamore's starters in real life.

"As promised," the skater said once Zigzagoon was back in its ball, "I'll take you to go get some skates of your own. You can get some for your boyfriend, too."

"He's not my boyfriend," Serena said at once.

"I'm not her boyfriend," Calem said at the same time.

The skater just laughed. "Fine, I'll buy it. I'm not sure Viola will, but you never know. Maybe her shipper sense won't be tingling this time." She started to lead Serena away, but Serena stopped to look back.

"You won't need my help to navigate the Gym, will you?" she asked, and Calem started to push her away.

"Rini, I've known you less than a day. I made it seventeen years without you, I think I can handle a few more hours." He waved as she left, pleased with himself. "And get me some skates, too! We'll cut our walking time in half if we both have wheels."

Once they were gone, he looked down at his two occupied Pokeballs. He wasn't completely sure, but he could have sworn at least one of them was laughing at him.

"Laugh all you want," he said, and meant it. "We're men! We don't need women to tell us what to do! Serena and Juliet can just wait their turn, because we are the newbie battle champions!"

* * *

"I need her help."

The statement would have gone unnoticed, if it hadn't been for the very tired Litleo glaring up at him as he'd said it. They all needed Serena's help right about now. Not because of anything that she could have done, but the fact that they had underestimated what was needed to take on a Gym. Calem could find nothing wrong with type-advantaging things, especially with Eddie learning Rollout to give himself a better shot. But borrowing Juliet would have come in handy, even if she did her own thing most of the time.

So he was more relieved than he'd admit when Serena showed up, carrying two pairs of skates over her shoulders. Calem immediately called her over.

"Great timing," he said, reaching for the extra skates. He didn't need them now, but it didn't hurt anything. "So, do you have any extra Potions? I don't want to have to go back to a Pokémon Center before I beat the Gym Leader."

"Or lose," Serena said, not seeming to care about her negativity.

"Before I beat the Gym Leader," Calem repeated, and she just smiled innocently. "Can I buy some off of you?"

"I wrote in the adventure tips that you should never run out of Potions," she pointed out, sticking her nose into the air. He pretended to be offended. "If you'd read that, you would have stocked up when we were at the Center."

"Well, maybe I'm poor and couldn't afford any more Potions. Did you ever think of that?"

"Well, maybe you should have battled more trainers on the road."

"I did battle trainers. That's why I'm offering to buy Potions from you instead of promising I'll pay you back." He held out his hands expectantly. "Please?"

Serena immediately reached into her bag and pulled out three Potions. "Here. Half my stock."

"You only have six Potions?"

"I only have one Pokémon," Serena reminded him.

Oh, right. "Well, then," Calem said, once again pretending nothing had happened, "let's get going. The Gym Leader won't be waiting on us forever."

"She's kind of obligated to," Serena said to herself, but she followed Calem once again, and this time, she promised herself that she would never leave his side again.

He needed looking after. He was good enough at battling to keep the bullies away, but someone had to make sure he didn't starve to death on the road because he forgot to eat.

* * *

Viola had greeted them with a warm smile and a camera to the face, taking her guests by surprise. Seemingly satisfied by how the picture had turned out, she held up the camera in triumph.

"Not good, but not bad," she said, before putting the camera back around her neck. "This is going right on my wall."

"Do you take pictures of all your challengers?" Calem asked, not sure if this woman was entirely sane.

"Not all," Viola said, as if she wasn't paying attention. "Just the ones that come with friends. You never know when Professor Sycamore might choose kids to save the world."

"How did you know we were chosen by Sycamore?" Serena asked.

"It wasn't that hard. I saw the boy battle a Gym trainer with a Chespin, so I put it together with the fact that it was that time of year. My sister always warns me when Professor Sycamore hands out starters, because that usually means I'm getting a challenger soon." She put the camera down, and chose her first Pokémon. "Now, which of you is my challenger?"

Serena pointed at Calem. Calem raised his hand halfway.

"Me."

Viola waited until Serena was safely away from the battle zone, and then tossed the ball. "Let's get it started, Surskit!"

A Surskit. A Water-type would definitely put his plan to have Litleo storm the place out of order. So, out of options, he reached for a ball.

"You're up, Eddie!"

Viola didn't let him take a chance. "Use Quick Attack!"

Well, at least it wasn't a Bug move. "Uh...Vine Whip." It was easier than calling a Rollout. The Bug typing might have given it a little resistance, but it wasn't enough to stop him.

Surskit took the hit, and Viola called for another Quick Attack. Calem retaliated with another Vine Whip. And the pattern repeated until Surskit lost the strength to continue and Eddie was rewarded with a Potion. When Viola sent out Vivillon, Calem didn't even try.

"Now switch to Rollout!"

Vivillon didn't stand a chance.

* * *

Viola handed Calem the Bug Badge, not even pretending to be upset at her loss. Eddie looked proud of himself, if a little dazed from when his last Rollout ran over Vivillon and carried him right into the wall.

"You've got potential, kid," she said, picking up her camera again. "Do you mind if I take another shot? The first one wasn't the best, and I always want to get good pictures for my wall."

"What wall?" Calem asked, not sure he wanted to know. "The main shots up there were all of scenery or Pokémon."

"Not my professional wall," Viola said, "my Wall of Suspects. There's a shipping web, of course, but you clearly aren't a couple. My shipper-sense isn't tingling. That doesn't mean it won't happen or even that it's unlikely, but I can pick up on official couples without even trying. Then there's the Pre-Mugshot Mugshots, but you two are going on the Professor list."

She said it as if she'd been working on those walls for years. Naturally, Calem turned her down.

"It's not that I won't save the world if I'm forced to," he said, "but there are plenty of other regions to have the whole supervillain thing. We can't be sure it's Kalos until something starts, can we?"

Viola lowered her camera. "I guess not," she admitted after a second. "Then I hope you two enjoy your journey. There's a Gym up in Lumiose City, which shouldn't be that far of a walk."

"Lumiose?" Serena seemed almost too excited. "I've heard it's a procrastinating trainer's dream! Cafés, shops, a place where they let you make your own video..."

"They what?" Calem had never heard of such a thing.

"Relax, they don't keep it. They give you a copy and delete the footage." She was almost shaking with excitement. "Can we, Calem? Please?"

He tried to resist. He really did. But it took all of four seconds before he agreed.

After all, Lumiose City was a procrastinating trainer's dream. Calem liked procrastinating. Adding it up, it sounded like a good time for both of them.


	5. Pretty Professor Man

**When Professor Sycamore's design was first revealed, half the over-13 female fandom decided they would date him. The editor was not among them, but she doesn't have to be for us to make fun of it.**

"You're Pokedex carriers, aren't you?"

The woman's voice was a surprise to them, but she didn't look like she was going to challenge them to a battle. Instead, she was just waiting for an answer.

"We are," Calem said, not quite trusting her. "Who are you?"

The woman laughed. "I'm Alexa, a reporter from Lumiose City. I interviewed Professor Sycamore and he said it was that time of year again."

"You know Professor Sycamore?" Serena gasped, almost too excited. "What's he like?"

Calem couldn't stop the snort of laughter. "You sound like you have a crush on the professor, Rini," he warned. Serena looked down at the ground, her face nearly as red as her skirt. Calem noticed, and immediately caught on. "You have a crush on _Professor Sycamore_?"

Alexa had to smile a bit. "Who _doesn't_ have a crush on Professor Sycamore?"

"I don't," Calem objected.

"I can see why." She was still teasing. "But I stopped to pass a few things out. I was going to give them to the Pokedex carriers, and...is that the Bug Badge?"

Calem looked down at his badge case, realizing that this one had a see-through lid. "Looks like it."

"The Gym Leader's my sister. I was going to watch you battle her." She looked slightly disappointed, but let it go. "Well, I can't turn back time. She can deal with me not cheering her on."

She handed them each a strange item that looked like something out of a mad scientist's lab. Calem stared at it in confusion, but Serena immediately recognized it.

"You managed to get Exp. Shares?"

"A journalist's secret," Alexa said, pretending her answer made sense. "And if you ever want to explore Lumiose City, just visit the Lumiose Press building and ask for me. I'll help you find whatever you're looking for."

And she left, back up the route to Lumiose, getting back to her job. The distraction gone, Serena turned to Calem, trying not to let her lingering embarrassment show.

"So we're off," she said, her voice shaking just a little. "And if you mention what just happened to anyone, especially the professor, I will smother you with a pillow while you sleep."

Calem mimed locking his lips. He didn't picture Serena as a violent person, but he wasn't about to embarrass her at all.

* * *

At the end of Route 4, they found two people. One male, one female, wearing remarkably similar outfits and not looking that much older than our protagonists. And, as Calem really should have expected, they immediately asked about their journey.

"Have either of you seen a Pokémon called Flabébé?" the boy asked. "We're looking for one for the professor."

"We haven't," Serena said before Calem could. "Sorry."

"That's fine," said the girl, waving it away. "You must be Calem and Serena, anyway. Professor Sycamore was expecting to see you." She gave a fake bow, and the kids immediately stepped back. She didn't seem to notice. "We're Dexio and Sina, Professor Sycamore's assistants. Just come with us."

"Rather not," Calem started, but he was cut off by Serena.

"I've only been to Lumiose City once," she told him, the fire in her voice almost scary. "I don't know where Professor Sycamore's lab is, but I want to find him."

"Rini, please. What if these guys are..." he looked them over, then finished with "not all there? In the head."

"I have Juliet," Serena reminded him.

"Juliet is adorable, and the opposite of threatening."

Serena's eyes narrowed. "She spits fire, Calem," she pointed out, to the amusement of Sycamore's assistants. "We can handle the big, bad streets of Lumiose."

"Can you?"

"I have a bottle of hairspray and Juliet has Ember. If we need to, we'll recreate Flamethrower."

That was an image Calem actually wanted to see. Needing only a moment to change his mind, he turned again.

"Follow you to the lab, you say?" He could almost feel Eddie stirring in his ball, and he took that to mean that his Chespin had good memories of the professor. "Then we'd better get going."

* * *

Augustine Sycamore was a man of many accomplishments. He was a scientist known throughout the region, winner of _Lumiose Star_ magazine's "Hottest Man in Kalos" title three years in a row, a decent Pokémon trainer despite preferring research to battle, and he wasn't a bad cook, either.

Calem knew only the scientist part, so when the professor's assistants led him and Serena into the man's office, the only thing that hinted at the man's title was the lab coat.

He immediately saw what Serena liked about the guy. He'd been expecting a middle-aged guy with an attractive voice. The real Professor Sycamore looked like he was only in his thirties, with the hair of a movie star, the jawline of a male model, and the overall look of someone who had been running on naps and caffeine for three days straight and made it look good. The end result was Calem thinking something he had never thought before: _This man is pretty. He needs to **die.**_

Sycamore stood up when they arrived, not seeming to notice their emotions. A pretty impressive feat, actually, since Serena could barely make sounds when she tried to introduce them and Calem was literally biting his tongue. But the professor didn't need an introduction. "You must be Calem and Serena. I was wondering when I'd get to see you face-to-face. Have you been enjoying your travels so far?"

Serena nodded, giving up on speaking. Calem pulled out his badge case to show the Bug Badge sitting in its proper place. "I'm already partway to being the next Champion," he said, trying to leave the 'top that' unsaid.

The professor seemed more interested than he should have been. "Future Champion, you say?" he asked, as if hiding secret knowledge. He must have known the current Champion's identity.

Calem didn't care. By the end of his journey, he'd know, too. "I already have my first badge."

"I would have considered that to be Serena's goal," Sycamore said, looking over at the girl in question. "I know her parents - not well, but I've had both of them speak to young trainers - and they always talked about how she'd been playing with their Pokémon from the day they brought her home."

"It's an option." Serena had finally found her voice, at least. "I still only have Juliet with me now. Fennekin, I mean."

"And she's been on her best behavior, I hope."

Serena nodded again. Sycamore continued on his little explanation.

"At first, only Serena and Trevor made the list," he said. "But then I heard that the Rhyhorn racer Grace was moving to Vaniville with her son, who I knew from reports was more than old enough."

"So you tracked us down like a stalker so I could get a Pokedex?" Calem asked.

"I asked Trevor and his friend Tierno to deliver the Pokedex to Serena," Sycamore corrected. "Then Shauna showed promise, so I packed three extra Pokedexes and starter Pokémon."

"Shauna found out where you lived," Serena explained for Calem. "I just said that there was a new kid in my town and she put it together."

"Did I hear my name?" Shauna's voice called from the elevator, and a moment later she arrived, holding Nya's ball in her hands.

The professor wasn't even startled by her sudden arrival. "There you are, Shauna. I was starting to worry."

"Worry about me?" Shauna scrunched her nose. "Why?"

"There are plenty of reasons why, Shauna." But he didn't want to depress them with a discussion, so he looked around and made a statement: "Why don't we all have a Pokémon battle?"

He was smart, pretty, and a battler? Calem now knew that his chances of getting a girlfriend in Kalos had been greatly diminished with this guy distracting them all. "I'll fight you," he said, and got amused glances from the girls he actually knew. "I'll fight you here and prove myself as a Champion."

"I am not anywhere close to the Champion's skill level," Sycamore warned, "but I did mean all of us. Show me how you've raised the Pokémon you chose!"

* * *

Professor Sycamore waited until Calem had already sent out Eddie before he called his Bulbasaur, and Calem immediately knew what his friends were in for. Still, he continued to fight, and when Bulbasaur was defeated he was rewarded by his first evolution.

Eddie had gotten much rounder than he was before, but the height difference had been expected. He watched the next battle from the sidelines with Calem, and they both nearly got hit with a stray Ember when Juliet battled the professor's Charmander. Then, while Nya battled Sycamore's Squirtle, the Quilladin poked the Fennekin's ear.

 **"Like what you see?"** he asked when she looked up, striking a pose dramatically.

Juliet didn't even blink. **"You put on a few pounds, I see."**

 **"I evolved!"**

Juliet swished her tail, as if the fact was unimportant. **"It could be worse,"** she said, with the clear intention of dropping the subject. She looked up at her trainer. **"Serena still hasn't caught a new Pokémon, and I haven't evolved."**

 **"Serena isn't battling Gym Leaders,"** Eddie reminded her. **"And at least _your_ second stage is cute."**

 **"Someone's fishing for compliments, isn't he?"** But she could give him one. **"It isn't that you're not cute, I'm just wondering how you can move around already in your new body. It's so...round."**

 **"Just put one foot in front of the other."**

She swatted at his leg, but didn't comment. Shauna and Nya had won, and Tierno and Trevor had arrived seconds later. The three Pokémon were all called into their balls after that.

"You wanted to see us, Professor?" Trevor asked.

"I did. I wanted to see how all of you were coming with your Pokedex pages." He took their machines and checked each of them individually. "I see you all have at least seen more than your starter. Good work!" He wasn't even disappointed.

"I was going to get more," Trevor promised. "The Pancham was a pain, I had to defeat her in battle just to scan her."

"It doesn't matter, Trevor. What matters is that you and your friends keep trying to be the best trainers you can be."

Wow, was that man cheesy. But Serena clearly didn't mind, and from the look of things, neither did Shauna.

"Thanks, Professor," the girls said together.

He handed the Pokedexes back to the trainers, matching each one to the right person, and continued. "Of course, if you could help me collect information on Mega Evolution, I would be more than grateful."

"Mega Evolution?" Shauna asked, as if the words sounded strange. "I've heard of it, but do you really think that we can do it?"

"Why not?" Professor Sycamore gestured to the Pokedex still in her hand. "You have a Pokedex, Shauna. Have you heard of what happened when other regions gave Pokedexes to capable children?"

"They save the world?" Shauna still didn't sound convinced. "I don't know, Professor."

"Then you don't have to. It was a request, not a mission."

"What's Mega Evolution?" Calem asked, feeling pretty dumb. "I can kind of guess from the name, but how does it work?"

"It's simply a form change," Professor Sycamore explained, "but it's a form change that requires a trainer to make it work. As for how it works, most say magic, or aliens. I have made it my goal to find out the scientific reasoning behind it all. That's why I mentioned it."

"I might be interested," Serena said quickly. "I've always been interested. Why not try it out?"

Calem listened a little longer. He had been completely clueless about Mega Evolution before today, but now that he knew what it was, he was more than a little interested himself. There was more than regular evolution involved in this world, and of course he wanted to experience it for himself.

But if the professor knew how oblivious he was, he didn't mention it. Instead, Calem watched as Shauna, Trevor and Tierno left the lab, and Serena stopped to take one look at the professor before turning back to Calem.

"I'm heading off to Café Soleil," she said, as Calem looked up from his own studying of the professor's research center. "Are you coming?"

"I'll catch up," Calem promised. "I just have something I want to do first."

Serena shrugged, but disappeared into the elevator. Professor Sycamore finally gave him his full attention. "You wanted to ask me something?"

"Can I mess up your hair?" Calem blurted before he could find a better way to say it.

Sycamore made a sound of understanding. "So you're one of _those_ people," he said, as if he had encountered this before. "The kind that thinks that I'll be stealing all of the affection that the girls would otherwise give you." Calem didn't answer, which was enough to tell the professor that he was right. "You have nothing to worry about. Girls your age are too young for me."

"But they're not too young to fall in love with you."

"Infatuation, Calem. They'll get over it sooner or later and you'll have your chance. In the meantime, no, you may not touch my hair."

"That's fair," Calem said, a little bit disappointed, as he waved goodbye and headed back down to the first floor. As the elevator went down, he took a moment to sulk as he realized that he hadn't even asked how the professor kept it so pretty, but then the doors opened again.

Calem immediately noticed that something wasn't right. There was a man he had never seen before, dressed in a very impressive red and black suit. What was more impressive than that was that the man had to have been closer to seven feet tall than six, and had a beard that, when paired with his hairstyle, made Calem think immediately of a Pyroar that he and Grace had seen on their way to their new house. There was something else about the beard, too, but Calem couldn't think of it at the moment.

"So I'll get to meet them soon?" the man was asking Sina. "I've always wondered what happens when a professor chooses Pokedex carriers. How much potential can be in such young, creative minds."

"They're all a bit older than in most regions," Sina warned. "But here's one of them now. You can speak to him, if you'd like."

Calem hoped that the glare he was giving them both was enough to stop the man, but he had underestimated the intimidation factor of the height and the beard. "I'll give you points for trying," the man said, even as Calem gave up. "I am Lysandre. Professor Sycamore has taught me quite a bit about Pokémon, as well."

This guy looked way too old to be one of the professor's previous Chosen Ones. "He didn't send you on a Pokedex journey, did he?"

"He shares his notes and lets me be the test audience for his speeches." Lysandre wasn't amused. "He knows I want to learn all I can to make a better world."

Well, that wasn't suspicious. "Better world?"

Lysandre smiled. It wasn't intimidating at all, and took a few points off of his naturally fear-inducing presence. "Your Holo Caster," he said, nodding toward the device that was poking out of Calem's bag. "That is a product of my invention. The world can be a terrible place. I just want to make it better."

"So you invent things?"

"At times. And other times, I improve things that others have invented. It's a matter of perspective."

Calem still wasn't sure what to make of Lysandre, but he didn't seem to be _trying_ to scare him, at least. "I've got to go," he said, breaking past him and making a beeline for the door. "I promised a friend I'd meet her at a café and I have no idea where I'm going. See ya!"

And he left before either of them could give him directions.


	6. The Actress and the Inventor

**EDITOR'S NOTE: "I have seen a few actors in person, but most of them were anime dub actors at a convention, and I never talked to any of them. Thanks to Diantha's plot importance, Calem's celebrity encounter will go much better."**

Even without Lysandre distracting him, it would have taken Calem over half an hour to find Café Soleil. As he had told Lysandre and Sina, he had no idea where he was going, and he had refused to ask for directions until he had found Shauna in front of a filmmaking building that she swore was allowing trainers to put together introduction videos. Calem saw no point in this other than showing off, but he didn't comment, instead asking her for directions and getting sent back down to a place not far from the lab, where he had passed without a glance because he somehow missed the sign.

Serena was there when he finally found the place. So was Lysandre, and a woman dressed entirely in white with what seemed to be angel wings on her back. For once, Calem actually recognized her.

"Wasn't she in that one movie with the thing?" he asked, keeping his voice low to avoid drawing attention. "Diantha something?"

"Well done," Serena commented quietly. "Most of her 'random celebrity encounters' happen in Lumiose City. I can't say I blame her, everything's just better here. Food, fashion, entertainment...and Professor Sycamore." She rolled her eyes. "The gossip magazines all say they're a couple."

Calem was immediately distracted by the news. "Sycamore's dating a movie star?" He wasn't surprised at all about that, but he was surprised by the fact that this made him _less_ annoyed by the professor's status as the perfect man.

"That's what the rumors say." Serena shrugged. "They're not denying it, but they don't go out of their way to talk about it. It could be true, or it could be a plan to get all the admirers away from both of them."

"Like you?" Calem asked pointedly.

Serena nodded. "Exactly."

Diantha suddenly laughed, distracting them from the conversation. As if she realized, she covered her mouth to muffle it. It did little to stop Calem and Serena from hearing her next words, though that was probably because they had started deliberately eavesdropping.

"You can't be serious," Diantha said, as if Lysandre had told her that he had been named king of a faraway planet.

"Why not?" Lysandre gestured around them. "I'm working on the device right now."

Diantha shook her head, the smile still in place. "You found a gray hair, didn't you?"

"That isn't what I was implying." But he didn't deny it. "I offered you a chance at eternal youth, for free, and you laughed at me."

"I didn't mean anything by it, Lysandre," she promised. "I just think it sounds ridiculous. People have been searching for a way to eternal youth for centuries, but I'm not one of them."

"It's your duty to remain beautiful!" Lysandre argued. "You started your career when you were young. Your roles have already changed. Haven't they changed enough?"

"Of course not. I actually want to play the cranky grandmother one day, but first I have to be the mother of a bratty teenage daughter. Just like I had to be the bratty teenage daughter myself."

"You're too young to be the mother of a teenager!"

"I haven't even been the mother of an infant yet," Diantha agreed, "and we both know that I'm not too young for that. But that will change sooner than we might think, and I'm looking forward to it."

Lysandre clenched his teeth. "I still say you're a fool," he said, so quietly the kids had to strain to hear. "But it is your choice. I won't pressure you any more."

And he stood up to leave. He stopped for a moment, recognizing Calem and assuming Serena was another Pokedex carrier, but he did not say a word to either of them. Once he was gone, Diantha caught Calem and Serena watching.

"You heard that, didn't you?"

"Hard not to," Calem confessed. "What was that about?"

"Don't worry about it." She seemed confident in that. "Lysandre's known for severe overreactions and disproportionate empty threats. He'll be over this in a week."

"And you're going to let him rant about beauty to random strangers?"

Diantha finally looked ashamed of her friend. "Augustine...I mean, Professor Sycamore and I are trying to develop the proper method to manage him, but he adapts as quickly as we do. It's all we can do to stay one step ahead."

"It sounds like he's ahead of you," Serena pointed out.

"Only for the moment. The Fountain of Youth is a myth, he won't get anywhere." She paused. "Probably."

Calem and Serena weren't entirely sure, but Diantha had a very busy schedule, and left before they could voice anything.

"Well, that happened." Calem wasn't sure he wanted it to continue happening, but there was nothing he could do. "What do you want to do now, Rini?"

Serena looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "Well..."

* * *

"And stay out!"

The door to the Lumiose Boutique slammed shut on the two teens, which would have been a horrifying experience had they not explained exactly why they were kicking them out.

Apparently, Calem and Serena weren't _stylish_ enough to even look at the clothes. Calem could understand his own lack of style, but apparently wearing a different bridesmaid dress in a total of four different photo shoots wasn't enough style experience for Serena.

"So my only modeling experience is fake weddings," she was saying, swinging her hair over her shoulder again. "Big deal. I'll get there one day, and you'll regret not letting me in now!"

"That's what your big goal is?" Calem asked before he could stop himself. "Shop at every big boutique in Kalos?"

Serena looked offended. "Not all of us are going into the Gym quest, you know." She didn't sound like she was taking him seriously. She didn't sound like she was taking _herself_ seriously. "But I would have liked to at least see what they've got!" She turned back to the boutique, anger in her eyes. "Style is a matter of opinion, you-"

"There are other places to go," Calem interrupted, deciding it would be best to distract Serena before she said something she'd regret. "There are cafes, or we could go back to the professor's lab..."

Serena calmed down immediately. "You know, I want to catch a Pokémon myself," she said, brushing her skirt as if it had gotten dirty. "I'm sure I'll find one by the end of the day if we keep on moving. We'll come back when the Gym is open for challengers again."

But Calem saw her make an "I'm watching you" gesture at the boutique, and he realized that this war was far from over.

It was a good thing he'd picked the winning side.

* * *

Calem yelped in surprise when Tierno's face showed up above his Holo Caster, but Serena remained calm.

Tierno did not. "First time using your Holo Caster, Professor X?" he teased, and Calem narrowed his eyes, attempting to control his new friend through telepathy. Nothing serious, of course. Maybe just a public nose-picking display.

But Tierno didn't so much as twitch, and Calem eventually gave up. "I always thought I'd see your face on a screen when I turned it on," he answered, which was as close to a yes as Tierno was going to get.

Tierno laughed so loudly it nearly echoed through the Holo Caster, and likely did echo wherever he was. "I'm on Route 5 right now," he said, "and there's wild Pokémon up here for the Pokedex. We can go on a catching spree here!"

"Hold off on the spree for now, Tierno," Serena warned. "There might be other Pokémon on different routes, you know. If you blow all your money for Pokeballs here..."

"Yeah, whatever." Tierno wasn't concerned. He was just a happy guy, it seemed. "I'll be waiting for you up there."

"Will Trevor and Shauna show up, too?" Calem asked.

"They should. Shauna might be getting distracted by PR videos, but she'll catch up someday." Something offscreen distracted Tierno, and he quickly cut it off. "I have to go check this thing out. Catch you later!"

And he signed off.

Calem put his machine away, and looked up at the still giggling Serena. "Ready?"

"Ready," she agreed, still grinning. "Let's go."

* * *

They encountered a slight detour in the form of a man in a bright pink suit. The man introduced himself as Mr. Bonding, and began to talk about something called O-Powers, but Juliet managed to pop free from her ball to set him on fire. Serena scolded her for it as the man stopped, dropped and rolled, but Calem took one look at the Pokémon's calm face and knew that she was not sorry at all.

The second distraction was a much more tolerable one. A black and blue Pokémon came running up to Calem, sniffing him and staring in a way that was almost uncomfortable. Calem knew this Pokémon at once, and started looking around for its trainer while the Lucario investigated Serena.

Ten seconds later, the trainer arrived. Calem wasn't even surprised when a girl with an incredibly long ponytail sticking out of a helmet came skating right toward them, a second Lucario following her.

"I'm sorry about my Lucario friend," she said, putting a hand on the Pokémon to let it know it was invading Serena's personal space. "He's easily distracted by a strong trainer's aura. Looks like both of you have what it takes."

"You think so?" Calem held out his hand, offering to pet the Pokémon, and Lucario allowed it. "That's comforting."

The girl laughed. "Don't get too comfortable. He might want you to challenge him." She started absently petting the Lucario herself. "I'm Korrina, by the way. I run the Gym in Shalour City."

"So will you use this Lucario in our battle?" Calem asked, still petting the Pokémon on the head.

"I'm considering." The first Lucario voiced its agreement, and the second Lucario seemed disappointed. Korrina turned and smiled. "Don't be like that! You see plenty of challenges yourself, don't you?" The second Lucario reluctantly agreed, and Korrina started petting him instead. "Well, we should be heading back to the Gym. I hope you'll put up a good fight!" she added as they left, the first Lucario stopping to bow to Calem and Serena.

"Count on it!" Calem called after her, but when she was gone, he looked back at Serena. "Any idea what that whole thing was?"

"Nope." Serena adjusted her bag and started off. "But Tierno isn't going to wait for us forever. Let's go."


	7. The Roadblock

**TRAINER TIP: If anything inconvenient happens at all, it is automatically the responsibility of Pokedex carriers to deal with it. Calem and Serena don't understand that yet.**

Not long after meeting Korinna, Calem and Serena teamed up against a pair of twins, and Serena caught herself a Pancham. After a moment of consideration, she decided not to name him Po, and carried him in her arms until they met up with Trevor and Tierno. They seemed to be talking about something exciting that must have happened when our heroes were distracted.

"Horde battles are scary," Trevor said, panting from running so much. "That is the last time I fight more than two opponents at once."

"They're weak," Tierno disagreed. "Our Pokémon overpowered them. It's more like a dance team than an ambush."

"Horde battles?" Calem asked, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

"Five wild Pokémon against a single trained one," Serena answered anyway. "It's a thing here in Kalos, actually taught in trainer's schools."

Well, that explained some of it. "Horde battles?" Calem repeated, weaker this time. "I don't think just one of my Pokémon can stand up to five."

"It doesn't happen often," Tierno promised. "You can probably handle them. Speaking of dancing..."

He had that look in his eye. Calem sent out Eddie before he even made the challenge official.

* * *

"Good job, buddy," Calem said once his Quilladin had taken down Tierno's Corphish. He pulled out a small container of Pokepuffs that his mother had given him, and handed Eddie a bright orange one.

"Great footwork, Corphish," Tierno said as he called his own Pokémon back to the ball.

"You really can't think of anything other than dance moves, can you?" Trevor asked critically, but healed Corphish anyway.

Tierno wasn't even offended. "Nope," he said, letting Corphish back out to show off its skills, as Serena applauded politely. "I'm going to assemble the world's greatest Pokémon dance team. You know that, don't you?"

"You might have mentioned that."

Calem looked over at his traveling companion. "I don't think we heard your dream," he said, and Serena faked innocence. "It can't really be to shop at all the 'cool' boutiques in Kalos, could it?"

"It could," Serena insisted.

"But you could have any dream in the world!" Calem gestured to the sky. "You could do any logical thing you can imagine, like finding your biological parents or going into the Hall of Fame, and you choose _shopping_?"

"Shopping, sightseeing...all of the lame tourist stuff." She smiled innocently. "I can't help it, I've always been happiest when traveling. I've never gone farther than Lumiose, I've never even gone anywhere without adult supervision before. I'm just trying to enjoy myself."

Something about that seemed like a lie, but it was perfectly in line with the Serena that Calem had seen so far. He decided to let it go.

* * *

Calem and Serena took turns battling the trainers on Route 5, and they had fun doing it. It was almost sad when they reached Camphrier Town and the battles had to stop.

They walked into the Pokémon Center to heal, and were immediately dragged into a conversation that they had never thought they'd hear.

"Do you kids know how to wake up a Snorlax?" the nurse asked. "I've tried shouting, battling, Awakenings, but nothing seems to work."

"Of course not," Serena said, as if it were obvious. "Only a special flute can wake up a Snorlax in the middle of the road. Where is it sleeping?"

"In the road just past Parfum Palace."

"Then we suggest that someone find a flute before people start actually sending complaints to the Champion. He or she won't be pleased about the lack of strong challengers."

"Or you can find the flute for me," the nurse suggested hopefully.

"Absolutely not." Serena linked her arm with Calem's. "We're going to see Shabboneau Castle. I've never played a flute before." She looked up at her companion. "Have you?"

"I've played a make-believe guitar and a real-life trombone," he said, and shuddered as he remembered his brief time in the band at his old school. "I'm never doing that again, just so we're clear."

"I'm not even going to ask." Serena reached for her Fennekin and Pancham, letting Calem's arm go so he could pick up his own Pokémon.

The nurse smiled innocently. "Shabboneau Castle is a Kalos landmark," she said happily. "I'm sure you'll enjoy yourselves. Young couples always do."

Serena immediately jumped back. "We're not a couple," she said quickly. "We're just traveling together."

"I'm sorry." She didn't look it, though, and suggested that they head out to Parfum Palace next, as it was 'better' than Shabboneau Castle. Whatever she meant by that, they were already on their way.

* * *

Shauna was there already, and she had apparently made friends with the tour guide in the three minutes she had been there. Seeing Calem and Serena, she immediately decided to introduce them.

"Two more visitors?" The man sounded surprised. "I can't remember the last time we've been so busy!"

"This was the manor of a noble family years ago," Shauna explained for him. "I'm trying to figure out how they've kept it standing this long."

"It is true that Kalos hasn't had royalty in centuries," the man finished, "but the nobility did not end immediately after the Great War. Someone had to clean up the mess, and legend has it that the brother of the mad king managed to suppress the natural outrage that followed such an event. The castle has had repairs before it became a tourist destination, and certainly before it got cleaned out."

"Cleaned out?" Serena repeated, looking around. The castle was barely decorated, true, but she'd thought it was because the place had been looted when the noble family left. "Where did the current owners put it?"

"Where do you think?" The guide waved his arms in the general direction of Parfum Palace. "The owners of the castle gave away a lot of their things, and as a result we have the Parfum Palace. And, as a result of _that,_ we here at Shabboneau Castle are having a hard time keeping the place open for business."

There was a moment of silence. None of the Pokedex carriers knew how to respond to such an announcement. "What about Mega Evolution?" Shauna asked, changing the uncomfortable subject. "Do you have anything related to it here?"

The guide stared at her as if she'd sprouted a third nostril. "Mega Evolution? What's that?"

Calem gave him the exact same look. "Where have you been?" he asked, ignoring the fact that he had also been oblivious to it until Professor Sycamore had brought it up. He was new to Kalos, it was a valid excuse for him. "The region's professor studies it, I thought it was something all of Kalos knew!"

"Maybe it's only recently been made public knowledge," Shauna suggested, quick to give everybody the benefit of the doubt. "You know, something only Champions could learn."

Serena shook her head. "My parents would have warned me."

"Then maybe it was a cult," Shauna said, changing theories as easily as flipping a switch. "Only those who had taken Initiation could be given a chance, and then somebody escaped with the knowledge and taught it to non-members, where it got the professor's attention." She shrugged. "I heard it's a big deal over in Hoenn, too."

Before the guide could even open his mouth, somebody else arrived. He was not a tourist. He looked the guide right in the eyes and said two little words: "It's back."

"Back?" The guide shook his head. "Why does it always choose Pokedex season to come back?"

And he was gone without a goodbye.

Shauna frowned. "What's back?" she asked, and Calem and Serena made awkward eye contact.

"The Snorlax, I guess," Calem finally said. "We heard the nurse complaining about it."

"So our journey's going to end because a Snorlax decided to nap in the road?" Shauna didn't seem to like the sound of that. "Can't we do something about it?"

Calem and Serena both thought it over. "I have an idea," Calem said after a moment, "but we're going to need grappling hooks."


	8. Dog Catchers

**Calem should be glad he's not the protagonist of a video game. Oh wait...**

They did not find a grappling hook, but they certainly tried. Instead, they found the man from the castle, reluctantly empty-handed and hoping for a better solution, but he had not moved the Snorlax from its position.

"The end of the world couldn't wake it," he was complaining. "How are we supposed to do anything about it?"

"A Pokeflute?" Calem was not in the mood to put up with this stalling. "That seems to be the only thing that energizes a Snorlax enough to get it up off its giant-"

"Do you have one?" Serena cut him off before he could finish it with a word that he should not say in front of Shauna's innocent ears.

"I did once," the man said, "but I handed it over to the owner of Parfum Palace. If you kids could run and get it for me, I could play it and move the Snorlax."

"Or you could hire a forklift and move it yourself," Serena pointed out, but Shauna laughed.

"Come on, Rini," she teased. "I thought you liked exploring."

"Exploring is one thing. Forced missions are another thing entirely."

The man seemed to have selective hearing, as he quickly turned it on the kids. "You're Professor Sycamore's chosen few, aren't you?" he asked, and, when none of them spoke up, he assumed it was a yes. "If you can go to the Parfum Palace and get my Pokeflute, I'll play it and wake up this thing. Then you can go ahead and go on your way."

Calem had to think. On the one hand, this was not his problem, and he did not want to make it so. On the other, he had learned that ridiculous roadblocks like the one he was currently experiencing were a natural part of video games, so there was a chance that this could be an important sidequest. He doubted he'd get an extra life or a weapon to deal twice the damage to monsters that tried to kill him, but the possibility of rare items was still there.

"I'll get your Pokeflute," he decided. "And in exchange, you tell me where I can find a grappling hook."

* * *

Calem led the girls down a small yet oddly clear path, the three of them taking turns battling tourists until Juliet evolved into Braixen. Parfum Palace was just on the other side of the path, and Shauna had to admit to reliving her childhood princess phase when she walked through the gates with her head held up high.

Even Serena had to jokingly give a princess wave, which was mirrored by Juliet as the Pokémon got used to walking on two legs. Eddie hadn't lied, it really was easy to grasp. It almost made her wonder what took human babies so long.

"I want this guy's life," Calem said, as simply as if he was commenting on the weather. "Pictures of long-dead kings, big fancy castle, gold everything..."

"You just want a whole room dedicated to your game systems," Serena said, like she knew what she was talking about.

"That's part of it," Calem confessed, "but look at this place! It's a real castle! Haven't you ever wanted an evil lair to make plans to conquer the world, even though you know you won't go through with any of it because your parents raised you too well?"

"Of course not!" Shauna cried in horror.

"Who hasn't," Serena said at the same time. When Shauna turned to her in confusion, Serena just faked innocence and hoped for a distraction.

A distraction that came immediately.

"Where did my precious Furfrou go?" the owner of the palace was sobbing. "Did somebody leave the door open?"

"My friends and I can help you find it," Shauna offered, distracting Calem from the castle and Serena from the conversation about it. "I know that I'd be worried if my Pokémon went missing."

"You will?" The man sniffled and wiped tears off his cheeks. "Oh, if you can find my Furfrou, I'll throw you a fireworks show!"

"Any idea why your Furfrou would want to run away?" Calem asked.

"Of course not! It's always been such a well-behaved Pokémon!" The man held out a picture of a white dog Pokémon, its head hair styled into what looked like a giant hat. "It's time for its haircut," he said. "We were going to try out a new style this time. Please find my Pokémon!"

In Calem's opinion, it was pretty obvious why Furfrou ran away, but he didn't want Eddie or Litleo to run away under the impression that he was a jerk. So, he followed Shauna and Serena into the giant maze that was Parfum Palace, telling himself that one day he would buy this place and have his own Pokémon run around.

And he wouldn't give them stupid haircuts. They would be spoiled pets, like they should be. Feeding them Pokepuffs and letting them exercise in the back...isn't that the life a Pokémon dreams of after they make it to the Hall of Fame?

* * *

The excitement of being in a real-life castle wore off after a while. It wasn't until they made it to the balcony that Calem's desire to be a king returned with a vengeance.

"A guy could get used to a view like this," he said, looking out at the giant statues of Unova's legendary dragons of truth and ideals. "I still want a castle."

Serena shushed him as a blur of white entered her vision. "There's the Furfrou!" she said, pointing. "Let's go! The faster we catch it, the faster we can be on our way to the next town!"

Of course, by the time they managed to get to the hedge maze, the Furfrou had disappeared. Since they could still hear the owner calling, they assumed it hadn't gone back to him, so there was only one possible way to go.

"Into the maze," he instructed. "Shauna, you check the back. Serena, you go to the right. I'll come at it from the front."

They didn't question this plan, and both of them dashed into the maze without thinking it through. This resulted in the Furfrou rushing to the left, leaving three confused teenagers colliding into each other.

Calem was the first to his feet. "You want a war?" he asked, pitching his voice as low as it would go before it hurt his throat. "Then let us see who emerges victorious."

The chase ended over an hour later, with the Pokedex carriers all laying on their backs in a small triangle formation, all too tired to move. Calem was the first to catch his breath. "I'll bet Gordon Freeman never had to deal with this," he said, more to himself than to Serena and Shauna.

So it was a surprise when Serena answered. "Gordon Freeman had his own problems, most of them of the life-threatening variety. Do you really want to trade lives with him?"

Calem almost sat up, but decided against it at the last minute. Pretty, smart, and knew of violent video games? Serena was quickly becoming almost as perfect as Professor Sycamore. "I never said I wanted his life," he said, choosing not to put the previous thought into words. "But you have to admit, this dog-catching thing would be a lot easier if we had a shotgun."

"Calem!" Shauna scolded, but both of them missed the curious look that crossed Serena's face. They did notice, though, when she managed to push herself back to her feet and stagger in the general direction of where they had last seen the Furfrou go.

"We might not have a shotgun," she hissed, "but that was a great idea. We don't need a weapon, we just need to change our angle." She called a Pokémon, not Juliet but Pancham. "Chase it down and challenge it to a battle. Tell it that if you win, it has to go get the stupid haircut. Something tells me that the Furfrou is a spoiled pet that hasn't battled in its life."

"And what if it has?" Shauna challenged.

Serena's evil smile would have made an excellent villain reveal. "The rules say that a battle continues until a trainer is out of Pokémon. I have Juliet to finish the job, and you two to back me up if he has other Pokémon." She flexed her fingers, then looked down at her Pancham. "Of course, you shouldn't mention any of that."

Pancham mimed zipping his lips, and dashed off.

* * *

That night, after they had returned a Furfrou that seemed more than willing to get a haircut if it meant never having to deal with Pancham again, the owner of Parfum Palace had agreed to give the Pokeflute back so the kids could continue on their journey. They went to watch the Snorlax wake up, knowing that it was a rare event, and it was gone in time for them to catch the fireworks show.

"Still want a shotgun?" Serena teased, and Calem laughed.

"It would get me out of a lot of trouble," he said, "but it would get me _into_ even more. Let's focus on getting a grappling hook first."

"I'd focus on getting into the Hall of Fame first, if it were me." Serena stood at the balcony as if she was starring in the role she named her starter after, while Shauna leaned over in a way that made Calem worried for her safety.

"I've never seen fireworks unsupervised before," Shauna said, breaking the conversation. "Or with a boy. It's kind of nice." She smiled even more. "This is going in my memory forever."

Calem suddenly realized that he had no idea of Shauna's goal. "So what do you want to do on your journey?" he asked. "I'm going for the Championship, Serena wants to shop at every boutique in the region, Tierno has his dance...thing. What do you want out of this?"

"Way to make me sound like a stuck-up fashionista," Serena mumbled before Shauna could answer.

Shauna just laughed at her. "You kind of are," she pointed out. "Maybe not 'stuck-up' so much, but there is another word for it." She didn't elaborate on what that word was, though. Instead, she tried to find the words for her own wishes. "I guess what I want is to have fun," she said after a moment of consideration. "Make new friends with people and Pokémon alike, make memories. Not unlike Serena's traveling goal, just with a little less focus on clothes."

Serena opened her mouth to object, as if shopping was only half of it, but she was interrupted by the beginning of the long-anticipated fireworks show.

Calem stood between them, and for once, he understood what his mother had always said. It was nice to leave the house now and then. And friends like these just made the experience complete.


	9. A Short Stop

**Even we couldn't make this place interesting. Next chapter will be a long one.**

Shauna was gone by the time morning came. Calem didn't care. He knew he didn't function properly until he'd been out of bed for a few hours, and that once he was fully awake he and Serena would make their own memories.

Serena, on the other hand, was either a morning person (gross) or excited about hitting the road again, because by the time Calem convinced himself to sit up in bed, her rented bed was empty and he heard her voice from the other side of the door. Soon enough, she came in, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a paper bag in the other. Once she and Juliet, who had opened the door, made it into the room, they stopped in their tracks immediately upon realizing that he had woken up on his own.

"Calem!" He was barely conscious, and yet he could process her surprise. "I was going to go and train more while I was waiting. I just thought I'd drop off your breakfast first." She handed him the donut, a basic baked circle with chocolate frosting and no topping.

Calem took it, but stared at her instead of eating it. "Why?" he managed, not completely coherently.

"Because once you were awake, I wouldn't want to stop." She gripped her coffee tighter. "You don't drink coffee, do you? We can stop _once,_ if so."

"I'm good," Calem promised, picking his hat up off the floor where he'd dropped it. "Just let me wake up a little more and we'll be out of here."

This statement was immediately followed by him trying to shove the donut into his mouth whole. Serena rolled her eyes.

"Small bites, Calem. I'm not so anxious to go that I want you to choke."

He decided to follow her command. It was a lot easier to breathe that way.

* * *

With the Snorlax gone, they could cross the bridge to get to the Day Care, and were joined by Trevor and Tierno before they had decided whether or not to go in. Trevor and Tierno, for obvious reasons, decided they wanted to check it out. Unlike most other trainers, Calem and Serena did not.

"What's wrong with the Day Care?" Tierno asked. "They raise your Pokémon for you!"

"That's where Pokémon breed in captivity," Serena pointed out. "Do you really want to see where eggs come from?"

"No one's ever seen it happen," Tierno reminded her. "Not even the people who actually run the Day Cares. How can we be sure it works the same way it does for people?"

"And do you really want the four of us to be the first to find out?" She shuddered. "Ask Shauna instead. She's the one who watched that stupid video."

"We're not going out back," Tierno promised. "We're just going to check it out."

"We'll let you do it alone, then," Calem decided. At two Pokémon each, and one female out of the four, there was no reason to leave anything behind. "We don't have anything we'd want to leave here. We'll just train out there."

The other boys let them leave, going into the Day Care to learn about how much they charge for taking care of Pokémon, and if they added some for an egg. When they were officially alone, Serena finally smiled.

"That would have been in my trainer advice pamphlet, too."

Calem immediately had to shoot down that train of thought. "Some people like learning the rules on their own."

"Not a surprise," Serena said, but the disappointment was clear in her eyes.

Calem decided to change the topic. "What about that castle over there? What's that?"

Serena knew what he was doing, but didn't bother to say so. "Let's go find out."

* * *

"That's the Battle Chateau," Trevor said, catching up with them in front of the castle. "It's where honorary Champions hang out, some even visiting from other regions. And acting Champions, Elite Four members, and Gym Leaders from here in Kalos join them."

"So it's a social thing," Serena summarized.

Calem wasn't quite as interested as a Badge collector should be. "Is it necessary?" he asked instead. "Once I beat the Champion, will I have to do it?"

"It shouldn't be necessary," Serena promised.

"Which means that once you qualify, you can go home and play your games for as long as you want," Tierno added.

Calem pretended he didn't hear. "If all the Gym Leaders come here, could I go in and get my next seven badges at once?"

"I wouldn't," Serena warned. "Trainers at battle facilities like this one all have strong Pokémon. Most of them have beaten the Elite Four at some point in their lives, and the Gym Leaders have Pokémon they aren't allowed to use anymore when they get past a certain power level. I don't think your Pokémon are strong enough yet."

"So why don't we all have a battle?" Calem suggested. "We all have at least one Pokémon, right? Come on, help a guy out."

"Well, I did want to battle everyone eventually." Serena selected her Pokémon, and turned to the other boys. "What about a tag battle? Calem and I can team up against the two of you."

"Don't we get a say?" Trevor asked, but Tierno laughed.

"You get a say in what Pokémon you use," he said, and immediately reached for his choice partner. "Corphish, go!"

Serena threw her ball. "Juliet, let's do this!"

* * *

It wasn't much of a fight. Calem and Serena didn't even need a type advantage, and their starter Pokémon won on experience alone.

Once Trevor and Tierno had lost the battle, it wasn't long before Serena suggested they go off to Ambrette Town. Their friends decided not to come along, but Calem was willing.

"Is there a Gym in Ambrette Town?" he asked as they moved toward what appeared to be a cave.

"There's one in Cyllage City," Serena said, as if that made it better. "Ambrette Town is on the way. Once we make it to Cyllage, it shouldn't be that much of a walk to Shalour, where Korinna will be waiting for you."

"Korinna?" Calem had to think for a moment. "Oh, Lucario Girl! I thought she'd be my last Gym Leader. That's how things usually work in video games - you meet the important characters really early, bump into them three or four times, and have a big boss fight with a great reward."

"We're not a video game, Calem," Serena reminded him, barely keeping herself from commenting on how he really wouldn't want to make a point for the anti-gamer movement by confusing fantasy for reality. But she couldn't resist the next comment: "If it was, you might have found that shotgun by now."

Calem laughed, and Serena kept him in a good mood as they walked into the "Zubat roost." Both were oblivious to the man who was watching them.

The man was tall enough that he almost blended in with the trees he used for cover. Not for stalking kids, of course - he hadn't intended to even notice that Calem and Serena were there. He had merely heard the boy laughing and turned to see what had made the noise. It had been so long since he'd felt happiness, he hadn't recognized it at first.

But then, there were a lot of things he wouldn't recognize if he hadn't seen the changes firsthand. He could only hope that _she_ was not one of them.


	10. Crime of Fashion

**I don't know who I'm more angry at - the editor for making the pun that named the chapter, or the game developers for making the pun possible.**

If Calem had to describe Ambrette Town in one word, it would be 'forgettable.'

It wasn't boring, he'd swear. It was barely dull. But forgettable? Definitely.

Serena wasn't too impressed, either, but in her mind, anywhere that she could wander unsupervised was interesting. She hadn't been sheltered, but she had never even thought of taking her parents' Pokémon out on an adventure without them. Unlike Calem, who had, at eight years old, ridden Grace's Rhyhorn halfway to the edge of town before she noticed either of them were gone. But that was a story for another day.

The one thing they agreed on was that the view from the ledge was amazing. They could see the whole town from up there, once again making Calem feel like a king. But, once they actually made it down the mountain and into the town, things got boring.

The exit to the next route was through an aquarium, a guide pamphlet said, so they decided to save that for after they had explored Glittering Cave. Which left them the only other place the town had to offer: a lab that held a scientist that said he could bring a Pokémon back from a fossil.

Naturally, they went to check it out. And, naturally, the scientist gave them a mission the minute Serena told him about how they were researching Mega Evolution.

"Mega Evolution uses mysterious stones," the scientist said. "Fossils are mysterious stones."

"I don't think that makes them similar," Calem grumbled to himself.

Serena jabbed him in the side with her elbow. "Behave," she hissed, before returning to her bright, happy smile as she focused on the scientist.

He'd noticed both. "You're not a fan of fossils, sir?"

"He's just cranky because he woke up before noon," Serena said immediately, silencing any objection Calem would have made with a glance. "Don't worry, he's harmless."

"Well, then, perhaps you can go fetch my assistant. He should be digging in Glittering Cave."

"Of course we'll get him," Serena promised, and pulled Calem along by the sleeve to make sure he didn't get away.

Once they were safely out of earshot, he gave Serena a dirty look. "What was that?"

Serena faked innocence. "What was what?"

"That! We _just_ tracked down a Furfrou, so I could get a Pokeflute, so some guy could wake up a Snorlax, so we could actually get to the next town. I want to reach the Champion as soon as possible, not get dragged into every pointless sidequest that comes our way!"

"And how do you know this sidequest won't result in a special item?" Serena challenged. "A fossil can lead to a rare Pokémon. Don't you want one?"

"That's not fair! You know I do!"

"Then shut up and follow my lead." Serena gave his sleeve another tug. "We were going to explore Glittering Cave anyway. We might as well get involved with a rock collector."

* * *

Though Serena was the one who made Calem get involved in yet another sidequest, it was Calem that had the knowledge required to get past the rocky path to Glittering Cave. While Serena was reading the sign, Calem had already hopped on the back of a Rhyhorn.

Serena looked uncomfortable with the idea. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"The sign says it's the only way," Calem pointed out. "If you want to stay here and let me have all the fossils, thank you. If you want to come along and get one for yourself, then let's go already."

"But I've never ridden a Rhyhorn before," Serena objected. "An besides, skirts aren't good for this."

"Well, we don't have time to wait for you to change. Hop on, and I promise that I won't look and Pokémon are too busy doing whatever it is they do in the wild to care."

Serena clearly had her regrets, but she knew that she had no other choice, and hopped on the Rhyhorn behind him. Once he felt her arms around his chest, he bit back the urge to point out that this reminded him of a boyfriend taking his girlfriend on a motorcycle ride, and he steered the Pokémon forward.

Serena squeaked a little bit when she felt the movement, but she kept her eyes open. Calem was waiting for her to continue panicking, but she never did. In fact, she seemed used to it by the time they made it to the cave entrance, and was almost off the Pokémon before it came to a complete stop.

They entered Glittering Cave, and immediately understood the name. Everywhere the light touched was shining brightly, while even in the dark areas, the eyes of Pokémon reflected back. Serena covered her mouth to muffle her excited gasp, and grabbed Calem by the arm.

"Nothing to say we can't look for new Pokémon to catch when we're looking for the fossil guy," she pointed out, and fearlessly led him down the marked path.

* * *

Calem did not find any new Pokémon, or at least any that wanted to be caught. The Kangaskhan that jumped out at him had considered, but after she had nearly beaten Litleo, she had turned away from Eddie's challenge and Calem's Great Ball. Serena, on the other hand, had had much better luck, and was currently playing with all three of her Pokémon, letting her new Mawile meet her teammates.

Juliet noticed Eddie sulking, and put her paw on his head in a gesture she meant to be comforting. **"Forget about that Kangaskhan,"** she told him. **"It's not your fault she found your trainer unworthy."**

 **"I know,"** Eddie said, mildly annoyed. **"It's Litleo's."**

 **"It's not really his fault, either,"** Juliet pointed out. **"It's not even Calem's."**

 **"I say it's Calem's,"** Mawile added.

Juliet drew her stick in a threat. **"Does this concern you at all, Mawile?"**

 **"Hey, he might have to borrow me sometime. I've seen him battle, it's not much."**

 **"He has a Gym badge!"** Eddie snapped, quick to his human's defense.

 **"Just one?"**

Pancham courageously smacked her on her back mouth. **"Don't make fun of him. You might not like him, but your trainer does, so shut up and deal with him for her."**

Mawile rolled her eyes, but put on a smile and walked forward, offering her tiny metal hand for Calem to shake, as she'd seen humans do before. Calem was understandably reluctant, given the sharp teeth growing from the back of her head, but he managed to smile and push her back in Serena's direction.

That was when they heard the crash that could only be a mine cart being tipped over in anger. Certain that the scientist was the one who had flipped it, the heroes returned their Pokémon to full strength and returned to their original mission.

* * *

It was not the missing fossil scientist who had done it. Instead, it was a man in a bright orange business suit, red-orange sunglasses, hair like fire, and absolutely no problem with any of it. He didn't seem to notice the two teenagers, even when Calem could barely quiet his laughter, and Serena had immediately hidden behind a rock and was making loud coughing noises.

"His outfit is so ugly it's actually making me sick," she answered when Calem dared to ask. "I hate that color. I genuinely hate that color with all my heart."

The man finally noticed them, giving what they assumed was a glare but what was ultimately blocked by the fact that he had chosen to wear sunglasses in a cave. "I'll have you know that this is a high-fashion uniform," he told them.

Serena snorted from behind the rock, but chose not to comment. Calem put it into words for her: "Dude, you're wearing a suit the color of regurgitated carrots."

"I was promised that it was a very in color!"

Serena snorted again. Calem rolled his eyes. "I'm a teenage boy, ok? My mom still buys me clothes. My greatest fashion achievement without her approval is not dressing like I'm into disco music, and even I can tell that your uniform designer ripped you off."

Serena's coughing picked up again at the thought of Calem wearing a disco suit. The man in the suit screamed with rage.

"You dare mock Team Flare?" he demanded. "We are the group that searches for beauty!"

"Clearly looking in the wrong places, there," Calem said under his breath.

The man picked a Pokeball from his belt. "And if you and your little girlfriend are too selfish to realize that there are more fashionable people than yourselves, we'll just have to settle this with a battle!"

Calem thought about correcting him, but realized that he honestly did not care if this man thought he was dating Serena or not. He didn't care if this man thought that the orange suit wasn't tacky. He didn't even care what this guy's name was.

But what he did care about was battle. The Team Flare agent sending in a Houndour merely made him pause for a moment, before he called in Litleo. Fight fire with fire, as the saying went.

* * *

"You're a pretty tough trainer, for a kid," the Team Flare grunt said after Calem had defeated both Houndour and the Zubat after it with the same Litleo that had been nearly defeated by a Kangaskhan only an hour earlier. "But I should warn you, I'm not the only member of Team Flare!"

"I put that together by the word 'Team.' I'm not as stupid as you look."

He didn't give the grunt time to form a proper response. Instead, he pulled Serena from her corner and led her past the grunt, pleased that the noises were a great exaggeration. He led her past a second Team Flare grunt, where thankfully she only laughed at the stupid uniform and sent out Pancham to take care of the female grunt's Pokémon. Then a double battle with two grunts was up ahead, but they used Eddie and Juliet to rip through Team Flare's choices quickly. Each time, the grunt made a loud whining sound as he or she complained about beauty. Each time, Calem and Serena very carefully avoided getting into that conversation, because they both knew how it would go.

As for the scientist that they had been ordered to find...

"Are you two here to look at fossils as well?"

The teen heroes froze in shock. "Did..." Serena looked over her shoulder, then back at the scientist. "Did you somehow not notice the fashion victims trying to mine everything from the cave?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Does the name Team Flare ring a bell?" Calem asked.

"No, not really. Is it a new type of Pokémon?"

There was another moment of stunned silence.

"I give up." Though he had hidden his face with his hand, Calem's statement did not sound like rage, or even mild irritation. It was the voice of a man who had no more flying feathers to give. "I'll bet Samus Aran never had to deal with this."

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt with that one," Serena replied immediately. "I've barely heard of the character."

"I haven't played as much as I want to, either."

The scientist, as oblivious to their conversation as he'd been to Team Flare, reached into his pocket. "Well, whatever this 'Team Flare' thing was, you did a good job at fighting them off. Perhaps you two would like to choose between these two fossils I found?" He held out the fossils in question. "I already have these in my own collection. Would you want the Jaw or the Sail Fossil?"

"I'll take the Jaw Fossil," Calem decided before Serena could make her decision. "It sounds cooler."

"Then I guess I'll take the Sail Fossil," Serena said, not at all disappointed.

"Excellent!" But the scientist did not hand them over. "I must warn you, reviving the Pokémon from these fossils can take quite a while. If you come back to Ambrette Town, say, after you have completed your journey, then I will have your Pokémon ready for you to pick up."

Serena hadn't been wrong, it turned out. This really was a path to rare Pokémon. But Calem didn't mind.

Now he finally had something that would put Ambrette Town on his mental map.


	11. Rock and Roll

**We really need to stop making bad jokes for the titles and start saving them for the main story.**

In order to leave Ambrette Town a different way than they came in, they had to go through an aquarium. Fortunately, admission was free for travelers if they left through the back, and the sight of all the water Pokémon swimming had Serena insisting that they stay until they'd seen everything.

"We're only going to come back to this town to get our fossil Pokémon," she pointed out. "Why can't we take advantage of this?"

A few hours later, Calem had stopped watching the fish and had started watching Serena. Even without promising herself that she'd catch one of the Pokémon that swam by, she was mentally traveling to all of the regions that these Pokémon came from. Watching her excitement over something as small as fish was even more entertaining than watching the fish himself.

Eddie had released himself from his ball, and was just as focused on Serena as his trainer was. **"She really does want to see the world,"** he commented, even though he knew that Calem wasn't likely to understand. Still, he looked up at Calem hopefully. **"Can we travel with her on her next adventure, too?"**

Calem didn't answer his question, instead suppressing laughter as Serena mimicked the face a Qwilfish made at her. But, eventually, she felt his eyes on her, and turned around. Calem looked down almost too quickly. "Are you ready to go?" he asked, trying to pretend that he'd been right behind her in water-related enthusiasm the whole time.

Serena didn't tease him about it. "Always," she said, and let him lead on the way out.

* * *

The way to Cyllage City wasn't difficult. There weren't even many trainers, other than a pair having what Serena said was a 'Sky battle.'

"It's another Kalos-exclusive thing," she explained.

"I think I figured that out on my own," Calem said, but Serena knew better than to take his sarcasm seriously.

Serena used Mawile in a battle with a lady swimmer, as a way to get them used to working with each other, and the next thing any of them knew, they were walking into the city.

"There is a boutique here," Serena warned. "I'm going to check that out...second, actually, I need to heal Mawile and buy some trainer supplies first."

"I'll come with you," Calem said, as if it didn't matter. "Most of those places have sections for guys, right? I'll look around while you shop."

"So we've made plans? Pokémon Center, then boutique, then the Gym?"

"Sounds about right." He thought of Eddie and Litleo, sitting in their balls, and had to ask. "What type does this Gym Leader use?"

"Rock," Serena answered immediately. "Given our surroundings, it has to be Rock or Water, and my dad said there's a Water-type Elite Four member now."

"The surroundings could be lying to us," Calem pointed out. "Maybe the type specialty is Grass."

"It can't be. The Kalos League doesn't like to allow more than one type specialist, and Ramos has been the Coumarine City Gym Leader since my parents took the challenge."

So a Kalos Leader used Grass-types. Now he knew two specialties before he had to challenge them, and could start planning early.

But he had to make this plan first.

"You'll lend me Pancham, right?"

* * *

The shop was boring, for Calem. Serena had mixed reactions, and left carrying a necessary change of clothes to handle the hills, but she did enjoy putting hats on her Pokémon. Even Pancham seemed disappointed when he had to put it back. The second shop was the bicycle shop, where they apparently won free bikes - Calem for walking through the door as the 1,000th customer, Serena for following right behind him and answering the easiest quiz about their product she'd ever encountered. Calem took the opportunity to ask about the Gym Leader. The bike shop owner took the opportunity to praise the Gym Leader's athletic skills.

One trip to the Pokémon Center later, swapping his Litleo for her Pancham, they started up the hill together. And, almost immediately, they ran into the Gym Leader himself.

He wasn't much taller than Calem, but his hair added several extra inches, and it was difficult for the challenger and his friend to take him seriously when he had decorated it like a rock climbing wall.

"If you're here for the bicycle race," the Gym Leader said, apparently not considering that they were looking for the Gym, "you're too late. I already won, but I would have liked some extra competition."

"We're not here for the race," Calem told him. "I'm looking for the Gym Leader. Grant, I think I heard his name was. You're him, right?"

"I am." Grant had switched from being genuinely apologetic about them missing the race, and had turned to excitement about a fresh challenge. "I thought it was strange that the two of you were coming here together. You must be the ones Viola told me about."

"You've heard of me?" Calem grinned. "Well, you have to know that I have a type advantage over you."

"You have to know that I have a strategy for dealing with Grass-types."

Serena impatiently tapped her foot. "I don't mean to be rude," she said, forcing her voice to sound as polite as possible considering her words, "but I want to see a Gym battle as much as the two of you want to have one, so..."

"Of course." Grant stepped back, and started unfolding his own collapsible bicycle. "I'll set up, you two can explore the town."

"We already did," Calem pointed out.

"Then give me a five-minute head start."

Grant hopped on his bike and zoomed away, and they waited only long enough to let him disappear before they continued.

But when they found the Gym, the first thought that passed through Serena's mind was a very real concern.

"Rock climbing? Did he even think to consider that some people aren't athletic?" She jokingly flexed like a Machoke. "These are twigs, Calem."

"Hey, that's a problem you should take up with Grant." He grabbed the nearest rocks. "Or just get yourself a membership to a workout center."

Serena glared. "Aren't you forgetting your safety gear?"

"This place doesn't _have_ safety gear," Calem pointed out, "which is a problem that _I'm_ going to take up with the Gym Leader. I'm a future Champion, the least this guy can do is make sure I don't die on his property."

As if tempting fate, that was when he lost his foothold and nearly screamed like a girl, only to remember that he was only eight inches off the ground. He managed to keep his fear under control, but Serena couldn't do the same with her entertainment.

"Do you want to help me look for an elevator?"

Calem jumped off the rock wall, landing on his feet. "That sounds like a good idea."

"Great." Serena adjusted her bag and smiled innocently. "I suggest we take the Gym guide hostage. He can tell us where it is."

* * *

Grant wasn't surprised that they had cheated. He had barely prepared his chosen Pokémon for the fight, but when he saw the kids step out of the elevator, he greeted Calem with a welcoming yet threatening smile.

"I hope you're as worthy as I think you are," he said, and Calem adjusted his hat. "It would be a shame if you weren't. Viola said she had high hopes for you."

"I'm prepared," Calem promised. "You might be surprised."

Grant stretched, as if he was preparing for a rock climbing exercise himself, and picked out his first Pokémon. "Let's go, Amaura!"

Calem had seen an Amaura in a picture. The fossil scientists had shown them the Pokémon they had been promised, and given brief descriptions of them. Amaura was part Ice-type, so Grant must have been expecting Eddie to come first.

Grant was wrong. "You're up, Pancham!"

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Grant made the first move.

"Amaura, use Take Down!"

Pancham was not expecting to get hit that badly, but Amaura had not prepared for the retaliation hit.

"Karate Chop!" Calem called, and once Pancham landed the hit, Amaura instantly dropped. Pancham jumped up to high-five Calem, bruising his temporary trainer's hand in the process, but they both stopped and shared their fear as they realized that the second Pokémon was probably going to be the one that had been promised to Calem.

They were right. Grant sent out his Tyrunt immediately.

Calem decided to switch Pancham for Eddie, at least to start with. Eddie didn't have a disadvantage here. Unless the Tyrunt knew a Fire-type move. Then they just might be doomed.

* * *

It was more difficult than it should have been, but Eddie and Pancham managed to defeat the Tyrunt. Grant seemed to consider sending out a third Pokémon, just to keep the competition going, but then he remembered the rules that his Gym set up for trainers with only one other badge.

Seconds later, he was passing Calem the Cliff Badge, and Serena was running out to congratulate her friend with his Litleo right behind her.

"Two badges," she commented with a proud smile. "I think even Mawile and Juliet would respect that. Way to go, Professor."

"I'm still only partway there," he reminded her. "I'm going to need their respect if I want them to follow my commands."

 **"You have a Fire-type,"** Litleo objected. **"You don't need Juliet, you've got me!"**

Calem didn't notice. He put his new badge in its case, stood up straight, and watched as Serena put Litleo back into his ball. "Korrina next," he said, as if the decision wasn't already made when they met Grant. "I want to see how that Lucario is doing. And if we met her before we reached her town, she has to have importance to our plot beyond just giving me a badge."

"Real life isn't like your video games, Calem."

Calem shrugged. It was true, reality wasn't like his video games. He wasn't so confused that he blurred the lines between fantasy and reality. But it didn't change the fact that he had become a Chosen One just because Professor Sycamore had heard of his mom, been forced on sidequests that interfered with the usual trainer's path, and had defeated every opponent he'd ever faced.

Serena was right. Life was not like a video game...usually. _Calem's_ life, and by extension hers, was like a nonviolent video game. Everyone else was destined to live in reality, where they were mediocre at worst and great at best. But whether they were heroes or merely champions, he knew that he and his friends were destined to be awesome.

He didn't say any of that out loud. She'd figure it out on her own.


	12. The Giant Rocks

**Calem now has half the team he's going to take to the League. Feel sorry for him all you want.**

When Calem and Serena left Cyllage City, they didn't really have a plan besides 'find Korrina's Gym and get her badge.' They could have easily made one, but that might have left out an important step - catch new Pokémon.

The funny thing was, Calem didn't even intend to catch his newest team member. The Eevee had wandered up to say hi as he threw a ball at a Golett, taken the hit, and vanished inside. Both Serena and the Golett toppled over laughing, effectively ending Calem's battle.

He didn't mind much. Eevee was a very useful Pokémon. And he had somehow lucked out and caught a female, so that was even better.

"She's probably just young," Calem said, even as his travel buddy wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Maybe she just needs a few lessons. Let your Pokémon out, they can team up with Eddie and Litleo to teach her."

Of course, even when Serena complied, it was much more difficult than it should have been. Juliet had poked the Eevee with her stick, and Eevee had grabbed it with her teeth as if playing tug-of-war. She didn't even flinch at Mawile's huge back jaws, and had climbed on Eddie as if he were a giant boulder.

 **"It's worse than I thought,"** Juliet said softly, almost horrified. **"She wants to _play."_**

 **"Playtime's fun, though,"** Eddie said quickly, Eevee still on his head. **"Especially with Pokepuffs."**

 **"I'm not saying that playing with Calem is bad for her,"** Juliet specified. **"There's the potential for Sylveon, though Calem's a boy and Sylveon is a ridiculously feminine-looking Pokémon despite the usual gender ratio."**

 **"Calem won't care."**

 **"Not likely,"** Juliet agreed, **"but he will probably want a Vaporeon to cover your Fire weakness. Even after evolution, he can't use Litleo alone against Fire-types."**

 **"Don't I get a choice about what I evolve to?"** Eevee asked, sounding nervous.

Pancham decided to take on the role of big brother. **"What do you want to be?"** he asked, hoping her answer would be Umbreon so that he could evolve, too.

Eevee thought. She thought for two straight minutes, her eyes narrowing and her tongue poking out from her lips. **"A Fighting-type!"** she decided. **"No, Ghost! Yeah, Ghost! No, wait...Dragon!"**

Pancham stared, a half-forced smile planted on his face. **"What?"**

 **"Yeah, this isn't going to work."** Mawile crossed her arms over her chest, looking up at Eevee with impatience written all over her face. **"Since you _clearly_ aren't thinking in reality, I'll tell you the ins and outs of being Fairy-type. Eddie can teach you what you need to know about being a Leafeon, and Litleo can handle teaching you to be Fire-type."**

 **"But I'm Normal-type."**

Mawile facepalmed. Juliet facepalmed. Pancham faceplanted into the dirt. Eddie facepalmed so hard that Eevee fell off his head. Eevee looked around in confusion, then pushed Pancham back onto his feet. He immediately fell over again.

Litleo alone remained unfazed. **"We'll start,"** he said, trying and failing to make his voice into the commanding tone of a Pyroar, **"with what you need to know about your new trainer."**

* * *

"Oh my gosh, a bunch of giant rocks."

If Calem knew what the giant rocks were for, maybe he would have put more emotion into the sentence. But he didn't know, so watching Serena enthuse about a pile of human-sized boulders was not as interesting as watching her had been back in the aquarium.

Unfortunately, neither Serena nor the other tourist even heard his complete lack of satisfaction.

"They're amazing, aren't they?" the backpacker said, a light in his eyes that Calem had to admit that he'd seen in Serena's. "You know, I was in Unova a few years back. This scientist guy, I think his name was Colress, mentioned that he'd tried to study the energy coming off these giant rocks once. I kinda tuned him out, I'd only asked if there was a Mega Stone for my Excadrill and he went off about his 'Menhir Trail experiments,' so I'm guessing he tried to make one."

"Someone tried to make an artificial Mega Stone?" Serena asked.

"Someone named their kid Colress?" Calem asked at the same time.

Serena gave him an exasperated look. "Calem," she said, as if it were an example of parents making horrible naming choices, and turned back to the backpacker. "So, did he succeed?"

"I don't think so. He would've made that kind of discovery public, and might have stayed in Kalos to give the Tower of Mastery a shot. He talked about Mega Evolution like it was Disneyland for him."

Calem frowned. "How long ago did you meet this guy?"

"Two or three years. But if you'd ever seen this guy's hair, you'd remember him."

"I'll take your word for it," Calem decided.

"But is there a Mega Stone for Excadrill?" Serena repeated. "Can you use it?"

"We haven't found one yet," the backpacker answered. "I'd show you if we could."

"We'll find the Tower of Mastery ourselves, then," Calem said, and pushed Serena forward. "Besides, Professor Sycamore would be more proud of us if we got the chance to do Mega Evolution ourselves."

* * *

They saw the bright orange before the person wearing it saw them. They immediately retreated behind some giant rocks, but the orange-suited person caught the movement and moved out to corner them.

"I know you! You're those kids who made fun of our uniforms and foiled our plans!"

Serena impatiently blew stray hair out of her face, and Calem rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you're planning on stealing giant rocks," he said, faking ignorance of what the backpacker had said about energy.

"Giant..." the Team Flare grunt stopped talking, and looked over his shoulder. "These are more than giant rocks, boy! Don't you know anything about the legend from 3,000 years ago?"

"No. And I don't care what _you_ want from it. I just want to go and get my next badge."

"You're not going to get your next badge!" the grunt snapped. "You're going to lose right here, and you and your friend are going to go home, where children belong!"

"You really want to do this?" Calem said, uncertain, and the grunt picked up a Pokeball. "Ok, apparently you do. So we'll do it." Calem picked his first ball. "Let's go, Eevee!"

"Houndour, go!"

The Houndour appeared with the trademark scowl. The Eevee appeared with her tail wagging like an excited dog. Calem immediately regretted having Eevee as his first choice - it was her first trainer battle, and it was against a wannabe villain with a bad fashion sense. He barely knew what his new Pokémon's moves were.

So he did what anyone would do. He called her back and sent Litleo in her place.

He really needed a Vaporeon.

* * *

The battle ended, but after a long struggle. Once again, Calem was victorious, and he had no patience for people like the grunt.

The grunt might have attacked again, but he was distracted by a call on his own Holo Caster. Calem and Serena didn't get to hear the other end of the conversation or see the other person, but the muffled voice sounded like a woman.

"Right," the grunt said. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Team Flare has Holo Casters?" Serena asked, mildly impressed. "I thought they'd have paisley-patterned pagers."

"The Holo Caster's even better," the grunt said, ending his conversation. "I get to make sure it's my boss or one of his underlings. That Lysandre's got style, too, and Team Flare can really admire a person with style."

"I can admit that Lysandre is usually pretty well-dressed," Serena said softly. "So why don't you dress like him, if you're so into style?"

They could almost see the grunt's exasperated expression through his sunglasses. "Because _this_ is a _uniform_ ," he said, slowly, as if she were seven and not seventeen. "And Team Flare's color is red, not black."

"That doesn't really answer the question."

"It doesn't matter now," the grunt insisted. "What the lady says, goes, and she wants me to get started on a new mission."

He brushed past them, leaving them to deal with the female grunt that took his place. Serena took her on, using Mawile against the Electrike and Juliet for the Croagunk. By the time they encountered the third Team Flare grunt, the kids directly ignored her challenge and walked right on past. She was too stunned at their disrespect to chase them down.

When they finally arrived in Geosenge Town, they found a Pokémon Center...and very little else. They took a break there, just so they could heal their Pokémon.

"Anything tourist-worthy here?" Calem asked, and Serena thought it over.

"Not really," she finally decided. "The stones on Route 10 were the town's biggest appeal, and honestly? I'm done with them."

Good. "So what's the next big attraction?"

"Reflection Cave." Serena smiled a little. "I'm going to enjoy myself, I love shiny things."

"And your reflection," Calem said, and laughed as she yanked off his hat and swatted him with it.

She put the hat down, looking out the window with a half-there expression. "And then," she said, "we'll get information on the Tower of Mastery. If it was Disneyland for that scientist guy, it must be _heaven_ for the professor."


	13. Mirrors and Mime Clowns

**This was pretty much my reaction to the XY Mr. Mime animation, too.**

Once they left the Pokémon Center, they saw yet another Team Flare grunt, but the grunt didn't seem to be causing any trouble. They would have completely ignored everything, if the grunt hadn't seen them and decided that, hey, maybe he did want to cause trouble after all.

"Do you really want to know our plans so badly?"

"Not really," Calem said, but the grunt had spoken over him, so only Serena heard.

"We're going to use the stones on Route 10 and a fantastic treasure to make the entire world Team Flare!"

"And there it is," Serena sighed.

Before either of them could ask exactly how Team Flare planned to brainwash the entire planet to be a part of their group, or what they planned for once they'd won, the grunt disappeared, cackling like the generic henchman he was. No more than two minutes later, when they had finally found the exit to town, they ran into a familiar Lucario.

"Hey, there," Calem said, as Lucario allowed him to pet his head again. "Where's your trainer? You didn't run away, did you?"

Lucario pulled away, almost embarrassed, and Calem's question was answered by Korinna gliding toward them.

"You're getting to be a real pain in my butt, Lucario," she said, like it mattered. Lucario made a sound of protest and gestured at Calem. "I get it, you want to battle. That is no excuse."

Lucario seemed to think it was a great excuse, but went back to standing with the other one.

"I wouldn't mind a battle," Calem said quickly. "It would make that one Lucario stop following us, right? We can take it."

"I'm not sure Eevee can," Serena said quietly.

"We can take it," Calem promised. "And if I lose, it won't matter. Right?"

"Right," Korinna agreed. "Let's get it done."

When the battle ended, Korinna admitted that she saw why Lucario was so drawn to Calem's aura. She still didn't understand why he was so drawn to Serena's.

* * *

Calem had a much better reaction when his Holo Caster went off this time, compared to when Tierno had called back in Lumiose City. Well, he had a better reaction to the fact that he was getting a call. Who was on the other end got a much more annoyed reaction.

"What do you want, Professor?"

Sycamore pretended not to notice Calem's irritation. "I simply wanted to congratulate you," he promised. "After all, you are the Pokedex carriers with the most interest in Mega Evolution, and you are getting close to Shalour City."

Serena reached for her Pokeballs. "I have more Pokémon than I did back in Lumiose," she said quickly, to his amusement. "I was, um, wondering if Mawile or Pangoro can Mega Evolve?"

"Mawile actually can," Sycamore told her. "But you would need a Mawilite, and I'm afraid I don't have one to give you."

"So what's in Shalour City?" Calem asked, getting the professor back on topic. "Something about Mega Evolution, I'm guessing, but what exactly?"

"A man," Sycamore answered. "Well, the entire Tower of Mastery, but the Mega Evolution Guru in particular. I've already told the others, but since you were traveling together, I decided to just call one of you and hope the other was listening."

"Then it's a good thing we're together." Serena smiled far too sweetly for Calem's comfort.

"Wish us luck, Professor," Calem said, preparing to turn off the device. "We're going to be cave explorers."

* * *

"Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea..."

Serena knew what he meant. Going through Reflection Cave, instead of cheating and finding someone willing to take them around it, was a very bad idea.

She'd always loved shiny things, and if Calem had been in his usual state of mind, he might have teased her about how her reflection was on every wall. She would have pointed out that she looked fantastic, as always, and it would have been like every other dark place they'd been through on this journey.

But, wouldn't you know it, Calem had nearly wet himself at the sight of a Mr. Mime and was currently holding a Repel as if it were a grenade, chanting "Bad idea" under his breath. She wasn't sure if he planned to spray the Pokémon repellent or throw it at the offending creatures, but she wasn't about to question his reasoning.

"Why didn't you mention this fear earlier?" she asked instead.

Calem mumbled something about being manly and returned to his panicked chanting. Serena sighed.

"You want that shotgun, don't you?"

Calem nodded again, shuddering as one of the offending beasts did "that thing with the hands." Serena knew that she was also a little creeped out by the puppet-like movements, and did not blame her friend in the slightest for having a panic attack at the fact that they were surrounded, but she had to ask.

"Bad childhood experience?"

Calem shook his head. "Horror movie," he corrected.

Oh. That would explain such a negative reaction. "We're almost there," she reassured him. "Just keep using that Repel until it runs out."

She didn't need to tell him twice.

* * *

Calem didn't like it and made that point clearly, but Serena ignored him and took the opportunity to train. She avoided all things Mr. Mime, of course, out of respect for her friend. But she had no such problems sending Mawile and Juliet out against a Wobbuffet or two, or Pancham against an entire horde of Roggenrola.

But it did nothing to help when they found sparkly-looking Pokémon, such as Sableye and one that Calem had never seen but Serena identified as a Carbink.

"It's one of those 'mysterious' ones," Serena explained, as Calem looked uncertain about what to do. "People catch them to try to use them to summon the legendary Diancie."

Calem lowered the Repel in mild interest. "Does it work?"

"Sometimes." Serena shrugged. "But it's a lot more complicated than you might think."

"So how can we do it?"

"I don't know. The method of accessing Diancie changes every time." She held out a Pokeball. "Do you want me to give it a shot? They won't come near you with that spray, but I can do it."

Calem looked at the Carbink again, then shook the Repel can again. "Another time," he said. "We'll still be in Kalos after I get to the Hall of Fame, right? Even you will have to come back to see your parents. We'll do it then."

"And if you don't want to go into the cave again?"

Calem answered immediately. "I'll let you do it then," he said, as if it should have been obvious. "If our method works, you'll get to have Diancie."

Serena's answering smile reflected back at them from two different surfaces, so of course Calem noticed when it stopped. He also saw why - another Mr. Mime had stepped out of the shadows, curious at the sight of Serena. Calem hissed out a swear word he wasn't aware he knew.

The exit to the cave could not have come fast enough.


	14. Mega Rivalry

**Sometimes the plot sequence doesn't make sense, but I'll allow it.**

Calem and Serena agreed they would likely have been lost in Reflection Cave forever if not for the other Pokedex carriers, who had stepped in with an actual map of the area. Tierno had tried to convince Calem to take the disk to teach his Pokémon the move Flash, but Calem refused, saying that using Flash in a cave made of mirrors was a horrible decision that would likely end with all of them blinded.

"It was just a suggestion," Tierno said, trying to pretend it didn't offend him. "I thought you'd want to test it out."

"I'll take it," Serena said, and Tierno handed it over. He had an expression that said he knew that she was doing it out of pity, but didn't object. Calem also noticed that he quietly passed her another, stone-like object, but he, too, kept his mouth closed.

They all eventually piled out through the exit, letting the warm sunlight fall on their tired faces, breathing in the welcoming air of Shalour City.

"Where to first?" Serena asked, as Calem put what was left of the Repel back in his bag. "Gym? Tower of Mastery?"

"Tower," Calem said, with no hesitation. "I want to see why Professor Sycamore didn't bother to go there himself."

"Meaning you want to one-up him in his own field," Serena summarized.

Calem nodded. "Exactly."

"So that's where we'll all go," Trevor declared. "Professor Sycamore did ask all of us."

Tierno drew the stick he had poked Calem with at the very start of their journey, raising it like a sword and making his friends wonder why he'd kept it this long. "Then let's get going! To Mega Evolution, and beyond!"

* * *

The Tower of Mastery wasn't hard to find. It was a tall, imposing building deep in the city. The inside was even more impressive, with a spiral staircase and a statue of what Calem assumed was a Lucario's Mega form.

"Why is it always Lucario?" he wondered out loud.

Serena answered immediately. "Because the local Gym Leader uses Fighting-types and has two of them."

"Is that the answer?" Trevor asked, his quiet voice echoing. "Or does she train two of them because the Tower of Mastery is in her city?"

For that, Serena had no answer. Calem, taking the opportunity, opened the door to the room under the statue, and began praying that it didn't fall on top of him. He didn't have the courage to take more than a step or two inside, but his friends were even more reluctant.

Korrina was already inside, with a man Calem assumed was the Guru. He looked like what his games told him gurus looked like, anyway, and he was not ready to give up his 'my life has become an E-rated video game' theory yet.

"Professor Sycamore told me you might be coming," the man said. "I am the Mega Evolution Guru."

"Point Calem," Calem said under his breath.

The Guru pretended not to hear, but the Gym Leader hid a smile behind her hand. "I was told there would be more than one," the Guru said. "Where are the others?"

"Outside. They had a little concern about being under a statue six times the size of the professor when the ceiling of this room could crumble and drop it on us, crushing us all like insects."

Korrina rolled her eyes. "It's fine, guys!" she called, and Trevor and Tierno entered. Serena, notably, remained absent.

"She's trying to get a picture of the Tower," Trevor explained, as if he'd read Calem's mind. "She'll be back. I left the door open for her."

"A good idea in theory," Korrina said, "but in practice, it'll get really claustrophobic in here. We'll wait outside the door."

The sound of two girls laughing caught their attention, and they looked to see Serena and Shauna trading stories of their adventures.

The boys left the room, followed by the Guru, followed at last by Korrina. The Pokedex carriers all went silent, even the girls, and lined up in a row.

The Guru noted their attention, and began his speech. "Professor Sycamore's pupils," he said, and Calem noticed Serena's posture go more attentive at the mention of the professor's name. "I suppose that I should start with the basics. How much do you know already?"

"Mega Evolution is like regular Pokémon evolution," Shauna recited immediately. "Except Mega Evolution is temporary."

"Like that alternate-reality show I watched as a kid," Tierno added. "Digimon. Talking Pokémon, sort of, that could evolve and de-evolve whenever the plot wanted them to." He paused. "I think. Haven't seen it in years."

"I loved that show when I was a kid!" Korrina cheered, eyes lighting up. "I used to pretend my Riolu friend could talk to me! It annoyed my whole family, but Riolu played along. That's why our bond is so strong today."

The Guru cleared his throat. Tierno and Korrina shut up instantly. The Guru continued as if the conversation had never been diverted. "Mega Evolution requires three things. A Mega Stone for the Pokémon, a Key Stone for the trainer, and absolute trust in the other for both. As Sycamore's Chosen Ones, I would like to give these items to all of you. But, at the moment, I only have one Mega Ring. You came too soon, I'm afraid."

"That's fine," Tierno said immediately. "As much fun as it was to pretend as a kid, I am not one of the Digidestined, and I can live with that."

"And I'm more interested in finding and documenting the Pokémon found in the Kalos region," Trevor added. "Maybe some other time."

Shauna thought, but shook her head. "As fun as it sounds, I'm happy with my Pokémon the way they are. I'll wait until you get the other four."

The Guru looked at the remaining two, who had entered into a staring contest. "Have you decided who should take it?"

"Calem," said Serena.

"Serena," Calem said at the same time.

That clearly wasn't the response that Korrina had anticipated. "Huh? Don't you want it for yourselves?"

"I do," Serena promised, and Calem nodded in agreement. "But he's doing the badge quest, I'm just getting stronger on my own terms. He'll need it sooner."

"But you have a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve already," Calem pointed out. "You can _use_ it sooner."

"So why don't you battle for it?" Korrina asked, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You both want it, but you both want the other to have it. Winner gets the Mega Ring, loser is happy for them. Win-win, right?"

The staring contest ended as both blinked. "That sounds like a good idea," Calem said, as if he were surprised that it had come to that. He just hoped that Serena wouldn't be a sore loser.

* * *

The battle was one Pokémon each, which wasn't a problem. Serena might have even won if they had chosen Eddie and Juliet, but the match was between Litleo and Mawile. Since Fire-type moves weren't protected by the Fairy typing, and Calem was handed the Mega Ring.

"You might be wanting a Mega Stone with that," the Guru said as Calem closed the bracelet-like Mega Ring around his wrist. It immediately slipped off when he lowered his arm. "And, of course, proper sizing on it."

"A Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution would be nice, too," Calem added, in his best 'innocent child' voice.

"Well, we'll see what we can do." The Guru looked toward Korrina, who nodded as if she understood.

"Come to my Gym," she instructed. "Once you get the badge, you can come back here and try to get your new Mega Ring to work."

"Why can't we try to get my Mega Ring to work first, and then have our battle later?" Calem asked. "We're already here, I can borrow the Guru's Key Stone while he makes my Mega Ring fit me better."

"Because shut up." Korrina adjusted her helmet and turned back to the Guru. "I've gotta go. The Gym won't prepare itself."

With no further explanation, she skated out the door. One by one, Calem's friends followed her until only he and Serena were left with the Guru.

He knew he'd won fair and square, but he had to say it. "Rini..."

She held up a hand to stop him. "Don't apologize. I was the one who picked the Pokémon first, after all." She smiled, not quite as brightly as usual. "I wanted you to have it, remember? You'd use it for the Champion journey, I'd just use it to try to impress the professor."

She did seem more upset with the fact that she'd lost her opportunity to show off to her celebrity crush than she was upset about losing the battle. Calem had to give her that much. "Well," he said, deciding that a change in subject was necessary, "let's go down to the Gym, then. How hard could Korrina be?"


	15. Calem's Cheat Code

**Cue the editor's shriek of anger that Mawile doesn't get to learn that many Fairy-type moves.**

"That was a nightmare."

Serena nodded in agreement, recalling all too well how Calem's entire team was decimated by Korrina's Hawlucha. There was no way to survive that Flying Press, even with Calem trading Eevee for Mawile. The Fairy typing did him no good.

"So my new plan," Calem continued, thinking out loud instead of attempting a conversation, "is to swap teams entirely. Your Pancham is a Fighting-type."

Serena wasn't impressed. "Which means he's weak to the Flying aspect of Flying Press as much as Eddie."

"Mawile is Fairy."

"She's also Steel, and has already demonstrated that the Shalour City Gym is almost unwinnable."

Calem still didn't seem to hear her. "Which leaves us with Juliet. I've been doing research, and she evolves into a Psychic-type, which means neither of her eventual types has a disadvantage against Flying Press. I messed up by forgetting that Litleo was half Normal instead of pure Fire, but if we can bring on Juliet's evolution..."

"Not just yet, I'm afraid." But Serena was plotting. "I do have an idea, but it involves blatant cheating."

"Pester Sycamore for a Kanto starter?"

"No," Serena said, as if her idea hadn't been anywhere close to that one. "I will keep that in mind in case this happens again, though. But you see, Calem, it's not just the two of us against Korrina. We have allies. Well, I have allies, at least, and that has to mean something for you."

He was almost afraid to ask. "Allies?"

Serena smiled and pulled out her Holo Caster. Seconds later, a pale woman with dark hair popped up on the projector. Serena gave her a big, innocent smile.

"Hey, Mom," she said, and Calem noticed that the woman was instantly suspicious. He couldn't blame her, he would have had the same reaction if Serena had given that smile to him, and he hadn't known her nearly as long. "I need to ask you for a favor..."

* * *

Korrina didn't hear Calem and Serena coming. The sound of her Gym trainers skating around in circles masked their voices, and the fact that our heroes were skating as well nearly drowned them out. But she did see them eventually, and noticed that Calem seemed nervous.

"Back so soon?" she asked with a smile. "Most challengers take up to a whole week training after such a defeat."

Calem glanced at Serena, who waved him on. "We came up with a new plan," he said. "Actually, I should probably give all the credit to Serena. _Serena_ came up with a new plan."

"What plan?"

"You'll see," Serena said with a smile, and sat down to watch the match.

Korrina was confused, but sent out her first choice, a Mienfoo, just like the last time. Calem studied it carefully, then chose his first Pokémon.

"You first, Mawile!"

Mawile did not look happy to be facing Korrina again, but the Chople Berry that Serena's mother had sent her reassured her a little. Even as the opposing Mienfoo followed a command for Fake Out, leaving Mawile unable to move, what little confidence she had was kept up by the idea that Calem wouldn't lose this round.

"Vice Grip!" Calem ordered, and Mawile jumped right into it, catching Mienfoo in her horn jaws and waiting until it screamed before letting go.

Another Vice Grip and a Fairy Wind that Mawile had apparently learned as a baby, Mienfoo fell. Mawile had used her Berry already, and was clearly tired, so Calem took the opportunity to use a Super Potion while Korrina sent out her second choice, a Machoke.

Having Fairy Wind did nothing to help Mawile against Machoke. Fortunately, Calem had chosen Juliet instead of Litleo to help him out this time.

Hopefully, she'd last until Hawlucha.

* * *

She did last until Hawlucha. Then a single Flying Press, and it was all over for Juliet. Calem felt a little bit guilty, but it wasn't like he hadn't planned for it.

Calem's third Pokémon was one he had never met until two hours earlier. It was also a Pokémon that he wanted for himself even before seeing its battle skill.

Serena had convinced her mother to send over an Aegislash, a Pokémon that Serena had grown up having practice battles with. Calem knew that Hawlucha had no chance of hitting it with Flying Press. He just hoped that Aegislash would listen to him enough to win him the battle and not draw it out to a stalemate.

"When did you get an Aegislash?" Korrina demanded, wondering if it was possible to encounter and evolve a Honedge to its final form with only two other badges.

"Traded," Calem said, surprisingly casually. It was technically true - Serena's mom had sent the Pokémon to her, and Calem had traded Litleo to Serena for it. She was watching over his entire team, and in exchange, he'd overpower his way to getting them to the next area, allowing his friend to play tourist again.

Calem didn't know if it was allowed or not. He believed it was. He simply saw it as a real-life cheat code, no different than disabling death in The Sims to keep your family from angering the Reaper.

And Korrina saw no chance against Ghost-types. "Hawlucha," she said in a defeated monotone, "Hone Claws."

Hawlucha was just as accepting of its defeat as its trainer. The command was reluctantly followed, and Calem finally got to choose his attack.

"Flash Cannon!"

Aegislash looked back, debating whether or not to listen to the boy, but decided that it would be the easiest way to get back to Vaniville Town and continue enjoying near-retirement.

The Flash Cannon just so happened to be overpowered enough to take Hawlucha out in a single shot.

* * *

"There was nothing in the rules about bringing in a Pokémon from more than one other trainer," Korrina said, handing Calem the Rumble Badge after scanning through the official rulebook, "so I guess you still earned this. And you defeated Mienfoo and Machoke twice, all on your own."

"I needed to do something after Hawlucha took out my own Pokémon in one hit each," Calem pointed out. "That's what trainers do, right?"

"Yes," Korrina admitted, "but it's not often that a trainer asks his friend to call her parents for help. Most use their journeys as a way to prove independence."

"It helps if the friend was raised by two people with Hall of Fame pictures," Serena said, perfectly innocent.

"I guess so." Korrina put it all behind her pretty fast, all things considered, as a much more important topic came to mind. "So, Calem. I want to have another battle with you, at the Tower of Mastery. You'll need to learn how Mega Evolution works."

"I can't do Mega Evolution yet," Calem explained. "Don't you already know this? The Mawile is Serena's, and we don't have a Mawilite for us to play with yet."

Korrina just smiled. "Don't worry," she said, sounding almost singsong. "I've been making plans for this. You'll get your demonstration. But for now, just return any Pokémon you're not going to keep to their proper trainers. I'll take care of the preparations."

Curious now, Calem turned to leave the Gym, Serena behind him as always. Were Korrina and the Guru going to give him a Pokémon that could Mega Evolve? That would be cool.


	16. At the Top of the Tower

**If we'd known about this event ahead of time, we might not have given Nate a Lucario.**

"Thanks again for sending us Aegislash."

Serena's mother had received her Pokémon back, after Calem had taken it to the Pokémon Center and given it a Pokepuff for its trouble. Serena had called her again, and Calem was paying more attention to keeping his Eevee away from his glass of water - she was trying to bite through the bottom, convinced that all cups worked like the Styrofoam cup he'd used before.

"And you're sure you won't need to keep him for the rest of your journey?" Serena's mother asked, and Serena hummed in thought.

"Probably not," Serena decided, offering another innocent smile. "We should be able to catch our own Pokémon for the rest of the journey. Between the two of us, Calem should be able to have a team for any occasion."

"What about when he faces another Hawlucha? Or a Fire-type, you've mentioned his lack of coverage there..."

"We'll get there," Serena promised. "He's got Litleo and Eevee already, and they're not weak to fire."

Serena didn't get to hear the response to that, as Calem called for her help. Eevee had successfully managed to stand on her back legs and grab Calem's cup, pulling it down to her height, and was attempting to lick the side. Serena cut off the call and rushed to help her friend.

"I think she needs more help than you do," Serena said, lifting the little fuzzy mess off of him.

"No kidding." Calem downed the rest of the glass before returning Eevee to her ball, and handed it to a helpful Wigglytuff that assisted the Center's nurse. "Well, should we trade for this next match against Korrina, or what?"

"She mentioned Mega Evolution. Maybe she has a Mawilite for you." Serena frowned a little, taking a moment to regret letting Calem have it, but she cheered up fast. "Let's see what she wants, first. Mawile can wait."

* * *

The Guru said that Korrina was waiting at the top of the Tower of Mastery. "It's through a door that leads to a balcony," he explained. "The others are all students of mine, other masters of Mega Evolution with no journey to go on. They challenge new trainers who aren't Sycamore's Pokedex carriers. Stay out of their rooms if you don't want to fight your way to Korrina."

So they took his advice, climbing up and up until they finally saw the door. Opening it revealed Korrina, on the balcony like the Guru had promised. She was waiting, with a familiar Lucario pair.

"Here we are," she said cheerfully. "This was decided to be the place where you received your Mega Ring. Something about setting our sights as high as the sky, or something."

One of the two, the Lucario that always ran up to greet Calem and Serena, handed Calem the bracelet-like thing he'd tried on before his Gym battle. It fit him better now, he noticed. They must have fixed it so it didn't slip off, like it would have on Serena's thin wrist.

"There's something else," Korrina said, and Calem looked surprised. "You see, that Lucario gave you your Mega Ring for a reason. I think it wants to battle with you. As your partner, I mean, not your opponent."

The Lucario punched its paw, as if ready to fight against Korrina's other Lucario. That was when Calem noticed that it held a strange stone that must have been a Mega Stone.

"So you want to help me learn how Mega Evolution works?" he asked, just to be sure. Lucario nodded. Calem fist-pumped the air. "So let's get started, then!"

"That's what I was waiting for." Korrina nodded at the other Lucario. "Go, Lucario!"

If she was treating this like an actual battle, then he'd do it, too. "Go, Lucario!"

The two Pokémon stepped in front of the trainers, each looking determined not to lose. Then, to demonstrate, Korrina lifted one hand, showing off a shining rainbow stone attached to her glove. She ran a finger across the stone, then raised it above her head.

"Now, Lucario! Mega Evolve!"

A blinding white light surrounded her Lucario, fading to reveal the Pokémon that was carved into stone inside the building. Calem followed her lead, feeling pretty stupid as he petted his Mega Stone and repeated her words, but decided that he could get used to it as he got the same result.

"Power-Up Punch!" Korrina called.

"Power-Up Punch!" Calem mimicked.

The two Pokémon were equal in strength and speed, and the next thing they knew, two Mega Lucario had reverted back to two regular Lucario, having knocked each other down in one hit.

Serena hid her face in her hand. "That was anticlimactic. I'm going to sue somebody."

* * *

"Well, you could certainly say that neither of the Mega Lucario held back," the Guru said, after Korrina had declared Calem the winner by default and they were all taking a tea break. Shauna had joined them, supplying the tea after missing both of Calem and Korrina's battles, as if she expected to have to make up for it.

"That's one way of saying it," Serena agreed, still bitter about the first Mega battle she'd witnessed being over so soon. She promised herself that once she got her own Mega Ring, _her_ first Mega battle was going to be better than that.

Korrina didn't speak. She seemed to be trying to decide something. "Calem," she said after a minute, "if you want to take Lucario on your journey, I won't stop you."

The Lucario jumped to his feet, eyeing Calem in a way that made the young trainer uncomfortable. **"I like his aura,"** the Lucario said, not taking his eyes off of him, **"but you do know I like yours, too, right?"**

"I can't," Calem said at the same time. "I can't take your Lucario."

"But it Mega Evolved for you! It never Mega Evolves for me!"

"Do you ever, you know, use your Key Stone with _that_ Lucario, or is it just the other one?"

"But the bonds!"

"I'm bonded with Serena's Braixen," Calem pointed out. "That doesn't mean I get to take her for more than a battle at a time."

Shauna looked confused. "But you have badges for-"

"I'm making a point," Calem interrupted, before she could finish with 'demanding obedience.' He had no idea if Juliet's respect was for him or just his skills as a trainer, but she _listened._

The Guru held out a hand to stop Korrina before she could protest. "If the boy doesn't want the Lucario, I have a better idea. He'll still have a Mega Evolution for his team, eventually, but it won't be one he just met."

"But..."

The Lucario that had Mega Evolved for Calem sat down next to Korrina, crossing his arms as if stubbornly refusing to leave. **"The kids have nice auras,"** he repeated, **"but they _scare me._ I don't want a part in the destruction of Kalos."**

The Guru stood up, leaving his tea unattended, and returned with a Pokeball. "Leave the Lucario, if you wish," he said, "but I would like you to take this Pokémon with you. I found it digging through our garbage less than a week ago, and it not only dismantled all the traps we set around the can to keep it from coming back, but it filled our hall with rotten banana peels as revenge. It refused to eat when we offered it real food. I think it's convinced we're trying to poison it."

"Were you?"

"Of course not. I managed to wear it down enough to catch it, but it doesn't want to leave its ball now." He pushed it forward, and added a Mega Stone that Calem didn't recognize. "If you could Mega Evolve a Lucario belonging to a different trainer, perhaps you could be the only successful trainer for this Pokémon. If you succeed, its evolved form can Mega Evolve as well."

Calem looked up at Serena, who simply shrugged. Shauna nodded, confident that he could control the garbage thief. Both Lucario waved him onward, looking relieved.

"Challenge accepted," Calem said, taking both the Pokeball and the Mega Stone. "So what Pokémon is it?"

* * *

The garbage thief was perfectly willing to come out of the ball for Calem. It even turned out to be a Scyther.

On the one hand, Calem knew that his team was distinctly not fireproof. On the other, Mega Scizor sounded like the coolest thing on the planet, and that was more important to him. He'd pick up a Rock-type dinosaur sooner or later, so he didn't necessarily need to be fireproof _right now_. He already had the Scizorite and a trade partner, all he needed was a Metal Coat...

Scyther warmed up to the sight of Pokepuffs, though he did push Eevee and Litleo away several times, just so he could get more of them. Litleo bared his teeth, preparing to type advantage the situation, but Eddie held him back.

 **"Let me handle it first,"** he said. Litleo stood back, but did not stand down - he wanted to see where this went, and would take over if it failed.

Eddie walked up to Scyther. Scyther picked another Pokepuff between his claws and popped it into his mouth. **"What?"**

 **"Those Pokepuffs are for all of Calem's Pokémon,"** Eddie said, trying to make a point. **"You're not in the wild anymore. You have to share with the rest of us."**

 **"I thought the only responsibility of a trained Pokémon was to help out their trainers,"** Scyther challenged. **"I'll fight for the boy. The boy will give me good food. That is the agreement."**

 **" _The boy_ has a name."**

 **"Fine, I'll fight for _Colin_."**

 **"His name's Calem."**

 **"Sorry, only heard it once."** Scyther rolled his eyes. **"I thought that fighting would be _your_ primary motivation."**

 **"My primary motivation is to be there when Calem needs me. As a battle partner or as a friend."**

 **"Friend."** Scyther said it like it left a bad taste in his mouth. **"Can he really be our friend if we can't talk to him?"**

 **"Can you prove he can't?"**

Scyther paused. Then, slowly, he pushed the plate of Pokepuffs forward, making a mental note to try to stay at least five steps in front of the Quilladin at all times.

Eevee didn't seem to notice the conversation. Instead, she decided to jump on the Pokepuffs and shove as many into her mouth as possible, her tail wagging happily and pink and green frosting sticking to her fur.


	17. The Skiddo Ranch

**We would have had Calem and Serena make it to Coumarine City in this chapter, but that would be too many important events in a row. We need a break from being serious. So, here, have a kinda-Kalosshipping chapter instead.**

Once Calem had convinced Scyther to go back into the ball, he and Serena started on the path that the map decided was the shortest way to Coumarine City. Calem had a plan for facing Ramos - he had more than one type advantage on his own team, and that wasn't including how he could (and likely would, if only as a precaution) borrow Juliet for the match.

Unfortunately, no sooner had they left the city than they encountered water. This body of water was too deep to wade through, it would have ruined their clothes if they tried to swim it, and worst of all, they did not have Surf. They didn't even have a Water-type.

"Should we call the professor, then?" Serena asked uncertainly.

Calem made a disapproving sound. "Forget that. That would be backtracking."

"Am I wrong in saying that backtracking is sometimes required in your video games?" Serena challenged. "Don't you want to be like those protagonists?"

"Maybe some of them had to backtrack," Calem admitted, "but the thing is, in video games closest to our situation, there are other helpful NPCs than just the important ones."

And before Serena could stop him, he walked right up to a man standing on the route, and came back with a Pokeball.

"See? He lent us a Lapras to get us across. Something about letting it take trainers back and forth across the river to get it some exercise." He grinned. "Professor Sycamore is no longer an option. We can cheat without him."

"You just don't want your self-esteem to shatter again, do you?"

"Irrelevant. The point is, until we cross that river, we have a Lapras." He gave her a pointed look. "So do you want to come with me, or go back and drool over the professor until his assistants kick you out of the lab?"

Serena rolled her eyes, but accepted his help in getting her onto the Pokémon's back. A ride was a ride, no matter who lent them the beast in the first place.

* * *

"It's a Skiddo ranch!"

It had come as a surprise to Calem that Serena, the so-called fashionista who certainly liked to see pretty sights, wanted to stop at a ranch. All stereotypes pointed to the contrary - both tourists and the fashion-conscious tended to go to bigger cities, where more shops and landmarks were located. But her answer to why was obvious as soon as he saw the adorable little goats.

He reached out to pet one. "Hey, little guy," he said, trying to keep from falling into the trap known as 'Cuteness Proximity.' The last thing he needed was his friend mocking him.

The Skiddo looked at the hand, mildly confused, and then proceeded to bite it.

"You might want to read their name tags first," Serena warned, too late, even as she handed him a bandage. "It says that this Skiddo is named Mr. Bitington." She patted the one that she was petting. "This one's named Cuddles."

"What does a Skiddo even do?" Calem scanned Mr. Bitington in his Pokedex, and quickly read the description it provided. "It's a Grass-type, huh? Well, I guess I know what Ramos will use."

"You don't know that," Serena protested. "They have different teams depending on how many badges a challenger has. He could use a Vileplume against you for all we know."

"Or maybe he has a Skiddo for every team."

Serena refused to respond to that, partly because the comment actually made sense. Instead, she held out a hand to the one named Cuddles, offering to pet it - and Cuddles, very happily, bumped its head against it.

"So cute," Serena said softly, stroking its back. "I want one."

"Are they found wild around here?" Calem asked, trying to silently point out that she was a trainer and could get one without a problem.

"They might be." Serena hummed in satisfaction as Cuddles bumped its head on her hand again. "We should look."

But she didn't turn to leave. She must have wanted _this_ Skiddo in particular, and didn't want to test her luck in encountering a Mr. Bitington of her own.

Calem got a different idea, seeing another Skiddo, this one with the name tag reading 'Flynn Rider.' "You know, Rini, you might not be able to ride the Pokémon with me all the time. Why don't I teach you with these?"

"You know how to ride a Skiddo?"

"It can't be too much different than my mom's Rhyhorn, can it?"

He supposed that might have been tempting fate, but the Skiddo called 'Flynn Rider' allowed it.

* * *

Serena got the hang of riding on a Pokémon pretty quickly. She even handled jumping ledges better than he did. She did not find a Skiddo of her own.

But there was a bright side. When defeating yet another trainer that had chosen to toughen his team on that particular route, Calem finally had another bit of good luck.

"Litleo's finally evolving!" Calem cheered, high-fiving his Quilladin as the glow around his first catch faded. The Pyroar stood in surprise for a moment, before turning back to Calem and pouncing, knocking the trainer on his back.

Serena flinched as Pyroar's hot mane came dangerously close to Calem's face. "Aren't you a little worried about accidental injury?" she asked, and Calem laughed.

"Aren't you worried about Mawile accidentally biting your arm off?" he retaliated, still too happy about finally having another evolution to bother with fear.

"Yes, actually." Serena smiled nervously at the lion Pokémon, trying to reassure him that their friendship was still present. "I know she'd never hurt me on purpose, and would be haunted by an accident forever, but there's always the chance that an accident will happen."

Calem's first thought was _Serena doesn't trust Mawile entirely? No wonder she didn't get the Mega Ring._ But he kept that thought to himself and pushed Pyroar off of him. "He's fine," was what he said, not noticing how close his Mega Ring was to the mane. "He's careful."

"So is Mawile," Serena complained.

"And you'll learn to trust her eventually." When Serena seemed ready to say something again, he held up a hand. "I have an idea. Why don't we have a battle when we get to Coumarine City? Kind of a redo of the battle back at the Tower of Mastery, and partly getting to know our Mega Evolving Pokémon, so that when I get a Metal Coat and you get your Mega Ring, we can do it immediately."

The promise of battle was a sufficient distraction. "Just Mawile and Scyther?" Serena asked, and Calem thought it over.

"Full teams this time," Calem corrected. "Almost full, anyway. I'll leave out Eevee to keep it fair."

It did sound fun. "I'll do it," Serena said, reaching for Pancham's ball. "But first, let me train for a while."

Calem willingly stepped back, letting her lead him to Coumarine City and crush the trainers in their way.


	18. Ship City

**EDITOR'S NOTE: "Professor Sycamore and Diantha sharing screentime did not make us ship them. Professor Sycamore and Diantha sharing screentime in a city full of boats was a funny thought I had after we'd shipped them for different reasons. So, allow me to say this one last thing... _This ship sails from Coumarine_."**

Coumarine City did not look or sound like a place that held a Grass-type Gym. There was too much water. Calem couldn't even see the Pokémon Center from here.

"They have one," Serena promised when he said that thought aloud.

"I know that! Where is it?"

Serena opened her mouth as if to make a sarcastic comment, but words never came out. Instead, she dug up her Town Map, trying to figure it out for herself.

"Well," she said to herself after locating Coumarine City, "that's a stupid idea."

"What's a stupid idea?"

Serena held out the map, letting Calem take a good look. "The city is divided in two by all this water," she explained. "We need to cross to the other side to get to the Pokémon Center, and the Gym, and anything else that might be interesting about this city."

"That is stupid." Calem wished he still had that guy's Lapras. It might have come in handy here. "Do they have free boat rides for trainers?"

"They have monorails." Serena squinted at the map again. "I just don't see it here..."

"Then we'll go looking for it." Calem was already trying to choose a direction to go. "We'll find it sooner or later."

"Or we could just ask for directions."

Calem gave her the most innocent look he could manage. "I never expected you to turn down the chance to explore, Rini."

* * *

When they found the monorail building, Calem's first instinct was to take Serena and turn right around. They were not alone, but she probably would not have liked to see what they saw.

Unfortunately, his second instinct came to him before he acted on the first, and Serena saw it all. And, unfortunately, the second instinct was to comment, "Maybe there was some truth to the magazine rumors. Who knew?"

Because Professor Sycamore was standing in close proximity to Diantha. That alone did not confirm a thing, and they seemed to be talking about Mega Evolution theories, but Calem preferred to believe it. If Sycamore had a girlfriend, maybe girls Calem's age would stop looking for that unlikely chance.

"To think that Mega Evolution could really be so complicated," Diantha was saying, fiddling with her necklace. Calem could only assume that she had a Key Stone, too.

"It's just a theory," the professor said, not seeming to notice anything but the current discussion. "But the bond between trainer and Pokémon does produce longer-lasting results. Of course," he added, keeping his eyes on the necklace, "I would like to see if it's a particular type of Key Stone that makes it last longer, instead."

Diantha laughed quietly. "I'm sorry, Augustine. I don't like to be separated from it. It might break, or get stolen."

Professor Sycamore gave her a heart-melting smile. Serena turned bright red and hid behind Calem, and Diantha seemed to reconsider. "And what if we went back to my lab?" Sycamore suggested. "I wouldn't do a thing you objected to. You should know this."

"Get a room," Calem complained, and Diantha's words died on her tongue as the two adults took notice of the new arrivals. Calem knew they could see Serena behind him, just as he could feel her fanning her face with her hands. "No offense, but you sound like a pair of college kids setting themselves up to die horribly in a horror movie."

The comparison amused them, but they did drop what they were doing, pretending as though their own conversation never happened. "I see you managed to get a Key Stone yourself, Calem," Sycamore observed. "Have you received one, Serena?"

"No," came a weak voice from behind Calem. "They only had the one, and I figured he should have it. He's the one collecting badges at the moment."

"That's a shame." Diantha finally let go of her own Key Stone, letting it fall back to its proper position. "Augustine mentioned that you were the one that had a Pokémon to Mega Evolve. I was looking forward to battling both of you with your full potential."

"I'd still need the Mawilite," Serena said, still quiet.

"I'm sure you would have found one." Diantha was an actress, so it was hard to tell if she actually meant it or not. She didn't elaborate, instead glancing up at the professor, smiling softly when he made eye contact. "Augustine did mention that he chose a particularly talented group this year."

"You have that much faith in us, Professor?" Calem asked, pretending to be impressed. He knew what he and Serena were capable of even more than Sycamore did. "I'm flattered."

He was apparently not as good at acting as Diantha was, as Sycamore saw right through it. Still, he chose not to bring it to attention. "You're almost halfway there. I assume your next stop is Ramos?" He stepped aside, allowing Calem to move ahead. Serena followed, her eyes on the floor. "Diantha and I have more to discuss, but perhaps we should wait until we return to Lumiose. Good luck to you both."

And he left. Diantha watched him go, then turned back to the kids.

"I would challenge you to a Mega Evolution battle, Calem," she said quietly. "Right here, in fact."

"But we both have places to be," Calem finished for her. "Don't worry, I don't have a Mega Evolving Pokémon yet. I'll go fight Ramos and get one, you go and do whatever it is you and Sycamore are going to do, and maybe next time we can have that Mega battle."

Diantha's smile was just as beautiful as the professor's. Calem himself got a little dizzy from the full force of it. "Next time," Diantha repeated. "It's a promise."

And, with her own wish for Calem's good luck in his upcoming battle, and a request to take care of Serena, she followed the professor through the door.

Calem noticed that Serena hadn't looked up since she'd left her position behind him. "You doing ok, Rini?" he asked once Diantha was gone, not sure how else to handle it.

"Fine." She lifted her head, showing that even her furious blushing had toned down. "I've never seen them occupy the same space before. They're actually cute together."

"They could just be friends," Calem suggested. It was a possibility, after all. "Maybe he was just turning up the flirting a little to get a look at her Key Stone. Scientists do dumb things in the name of research sometimes - remember the story about that guy who tried to make an artificial Excadrillite?"

"Professor Sycamore is too nice to use his good looks to manipulate women into doing his bidding," Serena insisted. "Besides, I'm way too young to have a chance at him, anyway. I had to get over him sooner or later."

Calem had been rejected by enough girls to know that the best way to get over somebody was through distractions. The same seemed to be true for girls - Serena jumped at the chance to head off to the Gym and have their battle.

"But don't let me win," she ordered.

Calem decided to follow that command.

* * *

The battle outside the Coumarine Gym went slightly better for Serena than the one in the Tower of Mastery.

They opened with their newest Pokémon, agreeing to leave Eevee out of it and work their way back toward their starters. Mawile managed to defeat Scyther with her Bug and Normal resistances, and made a taunting face as Scyther lay on the ground. Calem swore he saw Scyther attempt to make a rude gesture back at her, but called him back before he could confirm it.

Mawile did not have the luck to defeat Pyroar, but Pancham did. Even when Eddie took down Pancham, Serena was still happy that she had Juliet left. Fire-types had the advantage, and Calem's team was not fireproof.

She had forgotten that Eddie knew Rollout.

When Juliet was unable to continue, and Eddie evolved into Chesnaught, Serena screamed in frustration.

"Twice now," she hissed to herself. "That's _twice_ that he's beaten me."

"You'll get me one day," Calem said, attempting to keep a straight face. He refused to tell her that he felt like a video game protagonist again. In his own mind, Serena was the powerful sidekick, able to stand on her own but not quite The Very Best. The Zelda to his Link.

"When is 'One day' supposed to be?" Serena complained, having come to a similar conclusion.

"Eventually." Calem returned Eddie, but wasn't too pleased with his victory. "We should head to the Pokémon Center before the Gym battle. Are you coming, or staying?"

"Of course I'm coming!" Serena snapped back to her usual personality, pushing the loss behind her at alarming speed. "I can't leave Coumarine City with all of my Pokémon in this state."

* * *

Their friendship was not broken by the battles, and they went into the very clearly Grass-type building together. Serena even laughed when Calem made a joke about the place literally being a "jungle Gym." But the loss was still clearly bugging Serena, and Calem decided to let her win one eventually.

At the moment, he had bigger problems, such as how he could bring himself to completely crush the nice old man that waited for them at the back of the Gym.

Ramos didn't know what he was up against, that much was obvious. The other three Gym Leaders must not have called him to warn him.

"I was hoping I'd get a new challenger soon," he said, blissfully oblivious to the fact that the boy had two Fire-types and a Bug-type ready to blast through his team. "What do you say, lad? Ready for battle?"

"I've been preparing since my last one." Calem reached for Scyther's ball, preparing to send him out the moment that Ramos chose his first battle partner.

Said battle partner turned out to be a Jumpluff. Calem allowed himself a moment of surprise that a Gym Leader used a Jumpluff, but sent out Scyther anyway.

"Not very often I see one of them," Ramos commented, genuinely impressed. "Not sure how well this'll do, but...Leech Seed!"

As soon as he gave the command, the seeds sprouted, wrapping Scyther in vines. The look in Scyther's eyes promised vengeance, and he looked back at Calem, asking for permission to officially Do The Thing.

And, as Calem was a trainer going after a badge, permission was readily given. "Scyther, use Wing Attack!"

Not quite as fun as a good Fury Cutter, Scyther decided, but it was good enough.

Jumpluff didn't withstand the hit.

* * *

The second Pokémon, a Weepinbel, lasted about as long as the first, though Calem had switched Scyther for Pyroar. When the Gogoat (the _evolved form_ of Skiddo, so the 'Skiddo for every team' theory was half right) appeared, Calem switched out for Juliet, deciding that using his whole team was a good choice, since Ramos was clearly going to be a cakewalk.

A nice change from his last Gym battle, where he'd needed to cheat.

"Use Flamethrower!"

"Bulldoze!" Ramos ordered, but it was too late. Juliet was faster, stronger, and had the type advantage. Gogoat went down with a thud, and Ramos accepted defeat.

"Not bad," he commented as he handed Calem the Plant Badge. "I saw you battle your friend earlier. Gave me a good idea of what you can do."

"I figured out what I was capable of a long time ago," Calem said without hesitation. "Now all I need to do is prove it to everyone else."

"Don't get too far ahead of yourself, boy," the old man warned. "I've seen plenty of young trainers get so caught up in being 'the very best' that it gets to their head."

Calem's smile was a bit more cocky than would make Ramos comfortable, but his words meant well. "I have Serena and our Pokémon," he said, like he knew he wouldn't have gotten half as far without them. "We make a good team."

And, with a line like that, Serena really started to see why Calem had so many good things just dropped on his lap - he knew he was talented, and acknowledged it frequently, but he recognized that he wasn't the only one.

Kind of like a video game protagonist...


	19. Power Hungry

**In which our heroes learn to roll with the weirdness of Kalos.**

They were almost out of the city when Calem got another Holo Caster call. To the surprise of both teenagers, it was not a Pokedex carrier or the man who had started their journeys in the first place. Instead, this man had wild red hair, matching his beard and not that different from a Pyroar's mane.

"Lysandre?" Calem was confused. "I was expecting the professor. How did you get my contact information?"

"I'm personal friends with Professor Sycamore," Lysandre reminded him. "And you are his star pupil. Why shouldn't I have your contact information?"

Serena quietly fumed at the words 'star pupil.' Calem, knowing where her thoughts were going, changed the subject. "Did the professor leave his own Holo Caster here and want me to pick it up for him?"

"No, calling you was my own decision. I heard from the professor that you are capable of using Mega Evolution."

"Mostly," Calem confirmed, deciding that semi-honesty is the best policy.

"Then I would like to congratulate you. Truly, it was well-deserved." Lysandre's voice was calming, but his face was not. "But with great power comes great responsibility. You must use Mega Evolution only to make the world a better place. You have been chosen, Calem Xavier. Do not take that lightly."

"I was only going to use it to blast my way through the Champion's team," Calem said, taking silent pleasure in the fact that Lysandre looked mildly repulsed by the thought of using a battle tactic in a battle for sport. "What else would I use it for? We don't have competent villains here in Kalos, only a few bank robbers and a wannabe cult with bad fashion sense."

"Villain can be such a strong word," Lysandre said strangely. "Augustine trusts your judgement, but I believe you should be careful. It does no good to replace filth with new filth."

"Filth sounds like a stronger word to me."

Lysandre paused. "You seem to have a point there," he conceded. "It was not my intention to imply that you in particular were garbage. I merely meant to warn you about letting power go to your head."

"I'm fine," Calem promised, though he wasn't sure about how 'fine' Lysandre was. "Look, we're on our way back to Lumiose City now, and kind of on a schedule."

"I won't keep you."

And Lysandre switched his device off.

"Well," said Serena, more annoyed than anything, "that wasn't suspicious."

Calem snorted. "Come on, Rini. We have more important things to do than just sitting around and discussing theories. There's a Gym in Lumiose City I haven't battled at yet, remember?"

"And I did swear revenge on the boutique owners for throwing us out without even letting us look," Serena recalled, even as Calem cringed away. "There's a shortcut through a desert known as the Lumiose Badlands, but maybe we can find the power plant responsible for cutting off our access to the Gym."

* * *

"There you are!"

"Oh, crap," Calem muttered as Professor Sycamore's assistants appeared out of nowhere. "They found us."

"Would you relax?" Serena hissed back. "They work for the professor. They're not trying to kidnap us."

Dexio and Sina hadn't seemed to notice. "We were heading out to the Power Plant ourselves," Dexio said, "on the professor's request."

"The professor sent you to a power plant?" Despite her belief that they were on the side of good, Serena didn't seem to believe it. "Why? Are there trainers in there that you can ambush as you search for Mega Evolution?"

"Nothing like that at all!" Sina gasped theatrically. "We just wanted to investigate the blackout. The Gym Leader has never invented something that uses so much power before."

"So we're here to find out what's really the problem," Dexio finished. "You two can help us out."

"I never said we would," Calem tried to say.

He could have been talking to a rock for all the attention that they were paying.

It looked like he and Serena were going to go on another pointless sidequest. What fun.

From the look of things, she didn't want to do it, either. There were no rare Pokémon promised, like the exploration of Glittering Cave. But, just as his status as a video game protagonist pushed him along this path, so would her hopeless crush on the professor motivate her.

At least he caught her whispering a string of insults under her breath. That made his day, and gave him hope that maybe she wouldn't be devoted to Sycamore forever.

* * *

The Power Plant was easy to find. It helped that it was located in the middle of a desert wasteland with no other landmarks to speak of. Not even giant rocks.

Accessing it was another story entirely. Calem and Serena couldn't take two steps without running into wild Pokémon that had made it their mission to startle and attack them, and only Pancham and Eddie served any kind of lasting protection.

Serena did catch a Trapinch, though. New teammates were always a step in the right direction.

"And I notice that Sycamore's assistants aren't bothering to follow us," she said, glaring at the large amount of nothing over her shoulder. "They decided to dump us on the problem to have us fix it for them, didn't they?"

"Look on the bright side," Calem said with a deliberately annoying smile. "We are better trainers than they are. If this is Team Flare's doing, we're probably more likely to put a stop to it."

"Why would Team Flare want to run a power plant?" Serena looked offended. "They want to put us all in those stupid suits, not light up their evil lair. They probably have, like, lava lamps or those stupid disco floors to do that."

"Or disco balls hanging from the ceiling."

"Not that," Serena said immediately. "The grunts would end up running in circles, chasing the dots on the walls, and then there wouldn't be any work getting done." She paused, considering. "On second thought, you may be right."

"I always am."

"Don't get me started."

Someone cleared their throat behind them. Calem and Serena both slowly turned, coming face-to-face with a rather annoyed Team Flare grunt.

Serena faked innocence. "Hello," she said, as if she hadn't just been making fun of said team. "We're looking for the entrance to the Power Plant. Could you give us directions?"

"Not a chance!" the grunt snapped. "Not after you made fun of lava lamps!"

Calem facepalmed. "Of course."

The grunt didn't hear him. Serena didn't pay attention.

A Pancham and a Houndoom had just been released, and they needed to focus on the battle.

* * *

"Well, I learned almost nothing," Serena said five minutes later.

"Nothing but a string of creative new swear words," Calem added. "And that the guy dropped his pass to the Power Plant."

Serena looked back at the grunt, who was currently on his hands and knees, digging in the ground. "I've got this." As Calem watched the Flare grunt search for the dropped pass, she walked away, humming innocently.

The grunt looked up briefly. "Where's she running off to?"

"She needs to wash her eyeballs after looking at your uniform," Calem answered with no hesitation. "She's got modeling experience, so she should know tacky when she sees it."

"And she hasn't given you a makeover yet?" Calem could feel the grunt's distasteful look. "You're wearing a track suit and hiking boots."

"It's a sweatshirt and normal pants, you unfashionable lunatic."

He didn't know why he was so distracted by outfits right now. He hadn't lied when he'd said that his mother bought his clothes for him, and if it was an ugly combination, Grace would send him back to his room to change again. It was either traveling with Serena, or the fact that he wanted to be absolutely sure that he was more fashionable than Team Flare.

"You dare call me unfashionable? Team Flare is the definition of stylish!"

"If you can shop in the Lumiose Boutique, then I'll believe you."

"I can't, they threw me out!"

Calem laughed. Making fun of people was always fun. And, catching Serena carefully put an item he assumed to be the pass in her bag, she changed the subject. "So, why are you even in Team Flare in the first place?"

"It's simple, isn't it?" The grunt gestured at the Power Plant. "One day, our leader will succeed in making the entire world Team Flare. I want to get a head start, and make sure -"

"Sorry I took so long," Serena interrupted with a smile. "We really should get going."

"Fine with me," Calem said instantly, getting ready to go. "Did you get the thing?"

"I got the thing. Let's use the thing and do the thing so you can go and do the other thing."

"Great! Time to beat this thing!"

Serena sighed. "You don't know what thing I'm talking about anymore, do you?"

"You lost me at the second thing."

* * *

The Power Plant had an infestation of Team Flare grunts, but it was nothing that Calem and Serena couldn't handle. Alternating battles, they fought their way through to the main event, Juliet evolving into Delphox in the process. And, at the heart of the infestation, they saw what had to be the Queen of the hive.

It wasn't a hard leap to make. She was wearing the same stupid colors as the grunts, but in a different stupid way. She was even wearing an eye mask that brought to mind those sunglasses that cut out half your vision and didn't dim the sun at all.

Accompanying her was a man dressed in a white suit, his shiny head reflecting the lights of the Power Plant. Still, he was clearly a member of Team Flare, with the shirt under the suit being the same obnoxious color. He was talking about experiments, but the woman stopped him when she noticed Calem and Serena.

"I thought you said that this place was clear of trainers."

"It was..." the man turned to the Pokedex carriers, and they barely kept from laughing at his own goggle glasses. But when he sent out a Houndoom, eyes fell to Serena to handle it.

When Pancham stood over another defeated opponent, the bald man gestured wildly. "Aliana!" he whined, sounding more like a child than the criminal mastermind he clearly wanted to be. "Stop them!"

Aliana groaned, but took her place. "You know I hate the whining," she warned, and the man instantly shut up. "But I'll do it anyway. These pests clearly don't understand what it is that we're trying to do here."

"We might," Calem challenged. "You don't know that."

Aliana reached for a ball. "So why don't you take your friend's place, if you're so confident?"

"Why not?" Calem reached for Pyroar himself, suspecting at least one Fire-type. "I'm not afraid of you."

"But you should be!"

Aliana learned quickly that there was a good reason for his lack of fear.

* * *

Calem had used Scyther instead of Pyroar, changing his mind once her Mightyena had appeared. Scyther followed his orders perfectly, leaving Mightyena down. Nothing was unusual about Calem having a victory without a fireproofed team.

What _was_ unusual about this whole thing was how the professor's assistants appeared, too late to be useful, apparently convinced that masks and scarves were enough to hide who they were. They denied being Dexio and Sina despite the physical evidence all pointing to the contrary, as they hadn't even changed clothes other than adding their new accessories. Then they healed Calem and Serena's Pokémon, gave them Full Restores, told them that they were welcome to call themselves Defenders of Kalos, and disappearing.

"Really?" Calem asked when they were out of earshot. "The professor has a movie star girlfriend, or friend, or casual acquaintance, or whatever...can't Diantha raid the costume department for decent superhero outfits?"

"It's best not to ask," Serena said, and led him out of the Power Plant in silence.

They would have continued in that silence if it hadn't been for the man.

The man was about two Calems tall and had hair as long as Serena's - longer, probably. He looked and smelled homeless, but even his worn-out clothes looked better than Team Flare's uniforms.

He didn't see them. He was too distracted.

"So she isn't here after all." His voice didn't echo, like the giant in the adaptations of Jack and the Beanstalk that Calem had seen, but it was low and scratchy, fitting his appearance. "But I'll find her. She can play hide-and-seek for as long as she wants, but I can feel my time as Seeker is coming to an end. She has forever to play her games."

And he walked off, never noticing the two teenagers standing directly behind him.

Calem and Serena immediately agreed that there were stranger things than Team Flare.


	20. Big Bright Beautiful World

**It's a fact that Calem has the best Pokepuffs, and that he rewards his team after every battle. It's also fact that the Pokepuffs are the reason Scyther even listens to him in the first place.**

Calem and Serena didn't have far to go before ending up back in Lumiose. After bumping into the giant hobo, and deciding that attempting to investigate his ramblings would cut into the time they had for shopping and battling, they moved through the gate and back into Lumiose City.

"I missed this place," Serena said softly, not intending for Calem to hear. "I think this might be my favorite city in Kalos."

"It's a nice place," he agreed. "Besides, you said so yourself, everything's better here. Food, fashion, Professor Sycamore…"

Serena turned red at the name, looking down at her feet again. "Maybe I'll like Laverre City better," she said to the ground.

"Professor X! Rini! Hi!"

The sound of the voice surprised them, and they simultaneously turned to see Shauna racing up to them. By her side was a tall blue frog, leaking white bubbles from its neck. The sight of Nya brought Eddie and Juliet from their balls as well, leaving the poor Frogadier surprised and slightly embarrassed to be a full evolutionary stage behind her friends.

Shauna noticed. "You'll be fine!" she promised, her trademark smile nearly lighting up the night. "You're almost there. You'll catch up fast."

Seemingly assured, Nya immediately went into a long conversation in Pokémon-speak, leaving the humans to catch up without them.

"The city's power is back on," Shauna said, completely unnecessarily. "They're going to light Prism Tower tonight. Do you want to watch it with me?"

"Yes," Serena said immediately, as if the question was the dumbest thing she'd ever heard.

Calem, honestly, would have preferred to just sleep, but he let it go. Serena had lost to him twice in a row, after all, and seemed pretty upset with the fact. He could stay awake a little longer to keep her happy.

* * *

The Prism Tower was also home to the Lumiose City Gym, and Calem took this new information well. It helped that the Gym Leader, a kid no older than thirteen, and his sister were very nice and already friends with Shauna.

"So," Calem said, studying the Gym Leader as though taking the boy as a threat. "You're an inventor, Shauna tells me."

"That's right." The boy smiled nervously, wondering where Calem was going with this. "I'm not a great one yet, but Shauna's encouraging me."

"So am I wrong in assuming that you're an Electric-type specialist? You'd think you would have your own solar-powered generator or something."

The Gym Leader stammered, trying to find a suitable response, but was saved by his little sister's whining.

"Come on, Clemont! It's almost my bedtime, and I want to see the lights come on!"

"Coming, Bonnie!" Clemont called back, relieved. He knew Calem wasn't done with him yet, but hoped that all that irritation would come out on the battlefield, where it belonged, and not through fists. He returned to a large box at the side of the tower, tuning out his next challenger. "Just let me connect this back and…"

He suddenly cut himself off, giving a maniacal cackle. Bonnie groaned and facepalmed, knowing what was coming next.

"Here we go," Shauna said, sounding slightly more impressed than Bonnie but just as exasperated. "He's going mad scientist again."

Sure enough, Clemont's cackling stopped, but he made his statement: "The future is now, thanks to science! Prism Tower Lighting System, activate!"

And he flipped a Frankenstein-like giant switch.

The Gym symbol lit up first. Then it was followed by each floor of Prism Tower, until it was all glowing brightly.

The light reflected in Serena's eyes, and it was clear that Shauna was never going to forget this moment. Calem, on the other hand, was more concerned with whether or not he'd be able to sleep with all this light.

* * *

Calem enjoyed getting to sleep in the next morning. Serena was gone by the time he woke up, of course, but by now he was getting used to it. She didn't bring him breakfast this time, but he was getting used to that, too.

He was dressed and finger-combing his hair when she returned, her Delphox by her side once again. This time, the bag was from the Lumiose Boutique.

"They let you in this time, huh?"

"And gave me a discount," Serena answered with a smile. "I don't think they liked the idea of a fully-grown Fire-type carrying a torch going near their expensive items."

 **"And she bought me a hat!"** Juliet added happily.

Calem adjusted his own hat. "I'm glad you girls had fun. And I'm even more happy that you didn't end up making me come along to be a life-sized Ken doll."

"But you are going to be our test audience, unfortunately." Serena reached into the bag, removing a black trench coat and a tiny witch hat on a hair clip. The clip was attached to Juliet's head fur, where it leaned against her right ear, and the coat was longer than Serena's skirt. "You're the first guy to see this. What do you think?"

Calem might have looked Serena over longer than he'd admit, trying to find out proper words. "Nice," he decided. "But why buy a coat? There should be other shirts and dresses and pants in there…"

Serena stopped, trying to find the words for it. "My dad called when we were out," she finally said. "He has business in Snowbelle City, and figured we'd meet up with him on our badge quest. Snowbelle City, in case you didn't know, is cold."

"I figured." He thought it over. "And is that going to be warm enough?"

"Probably not," she relented, "but it's around the time of year that Laverre City gets chilly, too. This should get me through Laverre, and I'll pick up a thicker coat there. Then we won't have to deal with shopping when we could be talking to Dad." She smiled even brighter. "He promised to buy us a pizza."

That sounded like a good plan. But Calem stopped thinking as something registered with him. "You said 'our' badge quest," he said, and Serena flinched. "Does your dad know you're not taking the challenge?"

"Of course. He's just…" Serena wrung her hands. "I'm thinking I might make the Snowbelle Gym Leader my first. Just so Dad can watch me battle, and I can prove myself."

"He wants you to be Champion?"

Serena shook her head. "My quest for strength is a personal mission," she said, studying her reflection in the mirror. "As you might have realized, I'm not going just for the shopping and sightseeing. I love both, but I have a family to fit into."

"So why aren't you doing the badge quest?"

"I will." Serena finally turned back to Calem. "Eventually, I'll have my picture in the Hall of Fame with yours. But right now, I'll settle for being your cheerleader. And speaking of being a cheerleader…" she swung her bag over her shoulder, gesturing to the door. "Let's get going."

* * *

For the Gym battle, Calem decided to go with the team that would all but guarantee his victory: Eddie, Juliet, Pyroar, and Trapinch, with Pancham as a last resort. As always, Serena and her Pokémon were willing to make all the necessary trades.

Calem wasn't fully expecting Bonnie to be the one waiting for them. He was used to the Gym Leader waiting alone. But her presence wasn't going to make him go easy on her brother, if that's what she was hoping for.

"So you're Shauna's other Pokedex friends!" Bonnie cheered. "She said that Professor Sycamore gave the two of you a super special awesome mission!"

Calem and Serena weren't sure if 'super special awesome' was Bonnie's phrase or Shauna's, but they didn't really want to know. "He certainly did," Calem said, and Bonnie's entire face lit up. "But I can't do it here. I need to train more."

"Then what's the point of doing it if you're not training with it?" Bonnie pouted. "The professor said it was something cool!"

"It is," Serena reassured her. "Calem just doesn't have all the equipment yet."

"That's stupid."

Words couldn't express how much Calem agreed with that. "I'll come back and give a demonstration once my picture's in the Hall of Fame," he promised. "My Scyther should be a Scizor by then."

"See that you do!"

Clemont arrived moments later, slightly out of breath, and took his place on the battlefield. "Sorry it took me so long," was the first thing he said. "I was planning the match out. I've spoken to Shauna, and she told me about your battle record."

"She doesn't know all of it," Calem pointed out. "We haven't battled since…well, since Eddie and Nya were officially registered as our Pokémon, if I remember right. She can't know my _full_ record."

Clemont's smile and scary shiny glasses immediately brought the mad scientists of movies to Calem's mind. "She knows enough to tell me that you've lost before," he said, and Calem's expression confirmed it for him. "Well, I have plans in store for you. Let's start the show!"

* * *

Calem would later admit that Clemont opening with an Emolga threw him off. He'd planned on opening with Trapinch and using the Ground typing to his advantage. But he had Juliet to counter it, so it wasn't too much of a stall. She wiped it out with a single Flamethrower, looking almost bored as she did.

The second Pokémon that the Gym Leader sent out, a Magneton, similarly stood no chance. Calem had swapped out Juliet for Pyroar, sending the Delphox back to her true trainer to watch with the other Pokémon, but the type advantage was still present.

Clemont was impressed. "It seems I underestimated you, Calem."

"A lot of people do."

Clemont's glasses shined like a mad scientist again. "So now, I'll send out an even stronger Pokémon! Heliolisk, go!"

"What's a Heliolisk?" Calem asked, but the question was quickly answered. A Heliolisk was a large lizard-like creature with what seemed to be a sun around its neck. Easy enough for Eddie, he decided. Trapinch wasn't necessary after all.

Of course, when its first move was a Thunderbolt that left Eddie paralyzed, Calem was quick to admit that he used a lot of the creative swear words that he and Serena had learned from the Team Flare grunt. Only in his head, of course, he was aware of Bonnie's presence, but he found that it was almost as relieving as using them in the real world.

"Think you can pull off a Seed Bomb?" Calem asked, and Eddie grunted. Calem took that to mean he'd try.

Then Eddie dropped, the paralysis getting the better of him. Clemont laughed, a maniacal cackle that only added to the mad scientist vibe. "Heliolisk might not be able to blast through your team," Clemont said, "but I know that I can win this match by crippling it first!"

Calem's teeth clenched, but he knew that gloating was just part of the battle tradition. "And I might not have a Paralyze Heal," he said, "but I have faith in my Pokémon! Eddie, Needle Arm!"

Eddie got back up, lifting a fist. With a loud cry, he slammed it down on Heliolisk. Then, shocking everybody, Eddie shook off the paralysis, leaving Calem stunned.

"Holy crap, that corny anime stuff actually worked." He shook it off quickly, though, and got back into battle. "It's time to finish this! Eddie!" Eddie turned. "One more Needle Arm!"

This time, Heliolisk stayed down. Juliet cheered loudest of all, drowning out even Eevee. But Calem was focused on Scyther, hoping that he wasn't angry that he went to battle without him.

Scyther smiled and gave an approving nod. Calem figured that it meant that he finally had Scyther's respect as well as his obedience.

* * *

"Here's your Voltage Badge," Clemont said, once he'd reassured Bonnie that losing was a normal result of battle. The badge was already in Calem's hand. "You earned it. Your Chesnaught earned it."

 **"Does this mean I get to keep the badge?"** Eddie asked, and Juliet rolled her eyes, nudging him with her shoulder.

 **"Go on your own badge quest _after_ you help Calem finish his," **she told him. **"You've gone this far."**

Eddie shoulder-bumped her back. Being so much bulkier than she was, it sent her stumbling into Serena.

"Do you know where you're going next?" Bonnie asked, and Calem tried to think back.

"I think we're heading out to Laverre City next," he said. "There's both a Gym and a boutique up there."

"Shopping and sightseeing…" Bonnie turned her attention back to her brother. "Can I go with them, Clemont? They're friends with Shauna, they won't kidnap me or anything…"

" _We_ won't," Serena said, "but we might encounter people who would. We wouldn't want to be responsible if something bad happened to you."

"Point taken," Bonnie sighed. Then she cheered right up. "The Laverre City Gym Leader uses Fairy-types. Do you have anything to prepare you for Fairy-types?"

"Serena's got a Mawile," Calem decided. "Just don't tell the next Gym Leader."

"I'll just pass on the message that she's got a challenger coming," Clemont promised. "Nothing about your team."

"Good."

And Calem and Serena left, waving all the way.


	21. Lysandre Cafe

**In which Calem and Serena figure things out. Not that it was hard.**

Almost as soon as they left the Gym, they were once again ambushed by a Holo Caster call. Again, this one was Professor Sycamore. Again, he chose not to notice that his star pupils _reacted._ Calem noted, somewhere in the back of his mind, that the professor must have been taking acting lessons from Diantha, because he was positive that his irritation at the man's perfect hair was getting more and more obvious each time he encountered it.

Serena didn't freak out this time, but then, Sycamore hadn't done the flirty smile. "Hello, Professor."

"Hello, there." Sycamore clearly had something he wanted to talk about. "I heard that the two of you were back in town. Are you planning to stop by the lab before you leave?"

"That depends," Calem said, getting a confused look from Serena. "Are you and Diantha finished with researching her Key Stone?"

Sycamore cleared his throat. "Not entirely. The examination had barely begun when she was called back to the set to redo a scene that a wild Pokémon accidentally deleted."

Well, at least he didn't have a perfect life. There was that. "We were planning on heading out to Laverre City right away," Calem confessed, "but we can stop by for a little while. I still don't have a Pokémon to Mega Evolve, so I'm not sure how well that will affect your research."

"Don't put too much effort into that. I merely meant to invite you to my friend's café. You have met Lysandre before, I assume?"

Calem and Serena made horrified eye contact. Professor Sycamore did know Lysandre after all. "Lysandre owns a café?" Calem asked, trying to keep his suspicions down.

"You can't miss it. It's a bright, obnoxious red that drowns out everything else in the vicinity…" Something caught the professor's attention, just far enough away to keep the Holo Caster from picking up on it. Whatever it was, Sycamore's joking smile turned into mock disappointment. "Name-calling is _rude,_ Lysandre, and so is interrupting when I'm talking to my students."

But Calem and Serena weren't listening anymore. A café was something they could handle. And as for Lysandre, Sycamore and Diantha seemed to be confident in their ability to keep him leashed.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

The professor was right, of course. Lysandre's café was red enough to be the most noticeable thing in the small section of Lumiose City that it was in, even when they were looking directly at something else.

Walking inside, they were greeted with dirty looks from the waiter and waitress, but Lysandre and Professor Sycamore seemed much more willing to see them.

"You made it!" Sycamore turned to Lysandre as if the inventor owed him money. "I told you that they wouldn't get lost. Your building is hard to miss."

"One of my buildings," Lysandre reminded him. "I am rich, after all."

"Yes, you've reminded me." Sycamore wasn't impressed with that, it seemed. "But we were here to talk to Calem and Serena, weren't we?"

"Of course." Lysandre looked down at Calem's Key Stone, then at Serena's bare wrist. "Though perhaps only the boy would benefit from such a discussion."

Calem hid his Mega Ring from view. "Anything you can say in front of me, you can say in front of Serena," he said, repeating words that had been said in countless movies. It applied here. "She's getting one of her own eventually."

"Very well." Lysandre motioned for them to have a seat. They followed his instructions carefully, trusting Sycamore more than Lysandre. "Do you have plans on what to do with your life, Calem?"

"Not really," he admitted. "I just wanted to beat the Champion and go back home. I can live off my mom for a while longer, right?"

"And do you think it's right, taking advantage of your mother like that?"

"She never complains," Calem protested weakly. "She said she wanted me to have a life of my own, she never said when."

"But with Mega Evolution, you can change the world for the better. Don't you want that?"

Calem shrugged. "Maybe. But you probably remember being my age. We don't really see more than a few months ahead. Six weeks is like two years in teenager time."

From the look on Lysandre's face, he was no different now than he'd been at seventeen. Instead, he looked back at Serena. "And your plans?" he asked, now pretending that Calem didn't exist.

Serena answered more confidently than her companion did. "World travel," she said, not even thinking. "Battling the strongest trainers in each region, seeing all of the postcard pictures in person..." Her eyes unfocused slightly as she let her imagination overtake her. She snapped back to reality quickly, though. "Now it's my turn to ask you a question. I understand that the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but you haven't given us any instructions on how we should make the world better. What suggestions do you have?"

Lysandre didn't answer. Instead, he looked back at the waiter and waitress, thinking. "People," he finally said, "are both incredibly important, and incredibly selfish. They are necessary, but if we could remove the selfishness from the world…"

"You want to wipe out the whole human race?" Calem asked, horrified.

"Don't jump to conclusions," Lysandre scolded. "I never said that. I simply said that we, as human beings, are deeply flawed, and I wanted to insist that we use what power we have to prevent more suffering."

"You can't blame them for it," Sycamore pointed out. "You do have a strong preference for overdramatic monologues. It's one of the first things I noticed about you when we met."

Now was the perfect chance for Calem to ask. "How did you meet, anyway?"

Lysandre's irritation grew in direct relation to Sycamore's entertainment. "I wanted to ask for his help to create a device to freeze time," Lysandre said stiffly.

"Why?"

Lysandre went quiet. Sycamore refused to allow it. "Tell them," he ordered, and Lysandre looked ready to punch him through a wall.

Instead of doing that, he did as he was told. "I was convinced I was dying and wanted time to finish developing the Holo Caster."

"And what convinced you that you were dying?" Sycamore prodded.

There were three seconds of silence, in which Lysandre's death glare grew more intense, and Sycamore's oblivious entertainment bled into anticipation. Finally, Lysandre spoke.

"I ate food three days past the marked date."

Calem snorted. Serena hid a smile behind her hand. Sycamore made a gesture of 'There it is' and collapsed into a chair, laughing so hard he wasn't even making sounds.

Lysandre glared at his friend's shaking form. "Do you need to dunk your head in cold water, Augustine?"

But the professor held up his hands, caught his breath, and straightened out his lab coat like nothing had happened. "I'm fine. I just can't hear that story and keep a straight face."

"And yet you still agreed to help me. Who is the loser there?"

"You really don't want me to answer that."

Lysandre, clearly under the not-unreasonable impression that he was the only functional adult present, decided to cut the conversation short. "If we're finished here, then I have places to be. I want you all to keep my request in mind. Maybe then, we can help find the good in humanity."

And he left.

"He certainly is determined, isn't he?" Sycamore said, and Serena bit her lip. "Don't take it too hard. As a descendant of royalty, Lysandre believes that it's up to him to save Kalos from corruption. Diantha and I are working hard to take some of that burden off his shoulders."

"And how likely is it that you can succeed?" Calem asked.

Sycamore paused. "We're doing the best that we can," he said, in a voice that he meant to be reassuring but only set off their warning bells. Perhaps he could tell, as he left soon after.

Serena waited until she and Calem were safely out of the building themselves before bringing it up. "So, you're aware that Lysandre is involved with Team Flare, right?"

"Of course I am. Someone has to be funding them, and Lysandre has the money, the hatred of humanity, and Ganondorf's beard." Calem shrugged. "But again, Sycamore seems onto it. He sent his assistants out to stop Team Flare's hold on the Power Plant, remember? And there's no sense in trying to put a stop to him before we know what their big evil plan is. We'll get involved. Just not now."

* * *

Trevor called when they were halfway to the main square. This time, Calem was not surprised.

"Hey, Trevs," he said with a half-wave. "What's up?"

"We're all meeting at Route 14," Trevor answered, straight to the point. "You will join us, right?"

"In a bit," Serena said before Calem could respond. "I heard that there was a shop that sold Mega Stones. I want to see if they have a Mawilite."

"Why?" Trevor asked, putting into words what Calem was thinking. "You can't use it yet."

"Calem can't use his Scizorite yet," Serena pointed out. "It doesn't stop him from carrying it around in his pocket."

"He keeps it in his _pocket_?" Trevor stared at Calem in horror. "What if he drops it?"

"Uh…" Calem honestly hadn't thought about that. He put his hand into his pocket, where he was pleased to find the Scizorite still there. "I should find something better."

"You should." Trevor looked over his shoulder, then back to Calem and Serena. "Tierno just showed up, but Shauna's not here yet. I'll give you half an hour to look for that Mawilite, and if you're not here, we'll catch you up eventually."

And he signed off before they could comment. Calem put his Holo Caster away and looked at Serena like it was her fault. "And I don't expect you to know where to find this Mega Shop?"

"No," she admitted. "But I know who does." She pointed to a taxi.

"Good enough," Calem decided, and climbed into the car with her.


	22. Boo!

**We didn't know that Trevor was scared of ghosts until the story refused to move forward unless we threw it in. He's brave enough to only be a little bit scared, though. Good for him.**

Route 14 was home to the kind of scenery that wouldn't look out of place in a horror game. Tall trees stood bare over an empty playground, and with his height and pale skin, it was easy to mistake Trevor for a vampire child on the hunt.

But, as cool as it would have been, Trevor was not a vampire, and Calem was left feeling relieved and mildly disappointed about that.

"Tierno and Shauna aren't here yet," he said, seeming disappointed. "Are you up for a Pokedex competition?"

"Sorry," Serena said, once more cutting Calem off. "Neither of us is particularly interested in the Pokedex." She pulled on the sleeve of her new coat, which she'd been wearing since the Lumiose Gym battle.

Trevor came to an in-character conclusion, though it wasn't what she was implying. "Laverre has a boutique," he said, and Serena immediately stopped. "The Gym Leader's a fashion designer, too. Maybe you can ask her for a one-of-a-kind dress or something."

"Does she take requests from people who aren't challengers?" The thought of unique clothes was a sure distraction, and Calem waved his hand in front of her face to get her to come back to the conversation.

"Battles first, Rini," he said clearly. "Clothes later."

Serena rolled her eyes. "I'll pick out a new look for you, too," she decided. "I've never gone shopping for a guy before. Male makeovers should be fun." Oblivious to Calem's discomfort, she looked Trevor up and down, clearly trying to decide if he should be included.

Trevor never got to find out. "Why don't you and Calem have a battle, instead?" he suggested, trying a little too hard to divert the topic. "It'll kill time until the others get here."

Serena bit her lip, but Calem stepped in quickly. "I'll agree to it. I've kicked her butt twice, why not go for three?"

"And who said that you'd win?" Serena pulled out a Pokeball. "You're not fireproof, Xavier."

"We'll see about that."

"Then it looks like you need to learn just how much damage Fire-types can do to your team." She threw the ball. "Let's show him, Juliet!"

Calem threw a ball of his own. "Pyroar, you're on!"

And Serena learned that using a Psychic-type against a Pokémon with Crunch was not a smart decision.

* * *

The battle this time was almost short.

Pyroar had Crunch to deal with Juliet, of course, and Calem had the sense to swap him out for Eddie when Serena brought in Trapinch. Scyther managed to take Pancham down with Wing Attack, and Calem switched back to Pyroar when it came to dealing with Mawile.

And then, as they were waiting, the small device that Calem had received from Alexa all that time ago was suddenly useful. They all watched as Eevee literally fell out of her ball, just in time to start glowing.

"So that's how an Exp. Share evolution starts," Trevor commented as Eevee let out a cry of surprise. "You didn't have any preferences for her final form, did you?"

"I was hoping for a Vaporeon," Calem confessed, "but I heard that they can dissolve into water, and knowing _my_ Eevee, she wouldn't know how to turn herself solid again. I've got time, I can find something to deal with Fire. If I have the time to raise it before becoming Champion, I've still got a Tyrunt waiting." He looked down at his Pokémon, then up at the sky. "It's sunset. I wonder what she's turning into."

"Maybe there's a Moss Rock here," Serena suggested. "That would override Espeon and Umbreon, right?"

The glowing stopped before anyone could look it up. Where Eevee had been, there was a pastel-colored Pokémon standing there instead. Primarily pink and cream, with bows and ribbons growing right out of her body. Her eyes, once brown and unfocused, were now blue and seemingly empty.

The new Pokémon – the Sylveon – looked down at herself. **"This isn't Dragon-type,"** she said, half-disappointed. She took a few curious steps, then broke into a run, and finally started hopping, disappointment forgotten in the face of fun.

Calem was equally surprised. "I can't deal with this," he finally said, watching as Sylveon bounced around, getting used to her new body.

"She's fine, Calem," Trevor tried to say, but Calem gestured back to Sylveon.

Sylveon immediately tripped over her own neck ribbons.

"I see your point."

But Calem wasn't entirely disappointed. He could use a Dragon-slayer, and Fairy-types weren't weak to Fire. He had plenty of time to catch a Water-type.

But first, he had to deal with Shauna making her appearance just in time to tackle-hug Sylveon.

* * *

Once Tierno arrived, and Shauna stopped hugging her friend's Pokémon, they finally felt comfortable enough to make plans. Of course, Shauna's definition of 'plans' didn't seem to be 'everyone gathers to watch Calem battle the next Gym Leader,' but instead to visit a haunted house.

"A haunted house?" Calem had a flashback to when he'd been a part of one for Halloween, and how he'd been stuck cleaning up the mess when one kid wet himself.

"Maybe," Shauna corrected herself. "I've heard it called the scary house, so I was assuming."

"And what if there aren't any ghosts?" Tierno asked.

"Then we walk away and pretend that there were." She shrugged. "It shouldn't be hard, right?"

"And what if there _are_ ghosts?" Trevor added. The thought did not appeal to him. "You have a backup plan, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" Shauna pulled a camera from her bag. "First, I'm going to get a good picture. Then, we send Calem's Pyroar after them and have him Crunch them into re-death. Easy peasy."

Trevor looked ready to point out that stopping to take a picture was a sure way to get abducted or worse, but Calem and Serena were moving forward without them, having already decided that they weren't afraid of no ghosts.

"When you think about it," Trevor was saying as the five all made their way to the scary house together, "if you say you 'ain't afraid of no ghost,' you're technically using a double negative, which means that you _are_ afraid, which means that the ghosts win."

"Shut up, Trevor," the rest of the gang said together.

They passed rocks that brought tombstones to mind, but there were no signs of dead bodies. Serena even touched one to see if it was real.

"Real stone," she said when Calem asked. "No names, dates, or markings, but it is a rock."

Shauna suddenly screamed, silencing speech. For a moment, they all worried that a zombie had broken free of the swamp and snatched her by the leg.

Instead, she pointed toward a small purple ball. "I'm gonna catch it," she announced, even as four other Pokedexes were drawn, confirming the creature to be a Goomy. "You can find one, too, but this one is mine."

Goomy was a Dragon-type, the Pokedex said, but Calem couldn't think of anything that reminded him of a dragon less. He didn't want one, he decided, and Serena had a future Flygon to cover the Dragon-type on her team. And wasn't Tyrunt part Dragon-type?

Calem decided to leave Shauna to her quest. His plans for a Vaporeon had fallen flat, but there was still space on his team for a Quagsire…

But he didn't have the time. Shauna had already caught the Goomy.

* * *

The house wasn't haunted. It wasn't even that scary.

It was dark and abandoned, yes. A little claustrophobic, sure. But the 'scary' part came entirely from the man stationed there, every bit as alive as they were.

"Tourist trap," Calem hissed.

Shauna silenced him with a glare, then looked back to the man. "What makes this house so scary?" she asked, like she wasn't just as annoyed with the lack of real haunting as Calem was.

The sentence acted like magic words. The man looked around, seeing that this was all the audience he was going to get, and started his story.

"It was a dark and stormy night…"

"When the barber gave me this haircut," Calem whispered, so quietly only Serena heard.

She jabbed him hard in the ribs, but he caught the smile on her face.

The man went on, oblivious. "Lost, I entered this house, and went inside. The lights would not turn on."

"Because the owners fed the electricity bill to their Growlithe," Calem added again.

"Let him tell it," Serena ordered.

The man was aware of the commentary this time, and kept his steely glare focused on Calem as he continued. "I made it to the kitchen. There was no sign of anybody being there." He paused, waiting for Calem to say something. Calem put on the most innocent face he could manage, and the man returned to his story. "I found the fridge, and when I opened it, a faint light leaked out. With that light, I was able to make out a man huddled in the corner of the room. I tried to tell him that I was lost, and that I hoped to stay for only one night. But when I approached him, the man said, 'Stay back!'"

"Because your breath smells," Calem whispered, unable to resist.

The man's eye twitched, but he must have been getting paid to do this, as he didn't say a word to the disrespectful boy in front of him. "I tried to apologize. I even offered to pay him for shelter. But the man barely looked at me. 'I'm not talking to you!' he shouted. 'I'm talking to them!' I slowly turned around, and that was when I saw them." Shauna and Tierno leaned forward. Trevor's fists were curled in fear, but there was courage in his eyes. Satisfied with the fact that _most_ of his audience was attentive, the ending to the story came: "A horde of faceless men!"

There was a pause.

"A horde of zombie Jigglypuff would be better," Calem decided. For once, all four of his friends agreed.

"Well, I took time out of my day to tell you this story," the man said, "so you take what I'll give you."

"I paid for this?" Shauna protested, and they all realized that Shauna had known it was fake all along. "I wanted to entertain my friends with a really scary story, and you give us _that?_ "

"Faceless men are horrifying!" the man protested.

"Yeah, but the story could've used more detail! Blood on the stairs, attacking the cowering man…"

"Just leave it," Tierno said, gently pulling Shauna away. "We'll be fine without it."

There was no doubt about that.


	23. Wrath of the Mime Clowns

**Once again, Calem has a very understandable reaction.**

All of them bored, the five Pokedex carriers separated – Tierno to rehearse his dances, Trevor to search for more Pokémon to fill pages, Shauna to catch up on Nya's training and get Goomy used to having a trainer, and Calem and Serena to head to Laverre City.

Of course, the first place Serena wanted to go was the boutique. This time, Calem didn't even complain as he was forced to tag along.

More accurately, he didn't complain until Serena started picking out clothes for him, too.

"You don't have to," he tried to say, but Serena waved him off.

"Of course I have to. We're partners here. That means that we do nice things for each other, and it would be nice of me to help you out of those rags you call clothes."

"Nothing's wrong with my clothes!" Calem protested.

"You wipe your nose on your sleeves, Calem. The least you can do is get a second outfit." Serena eyed a pink men's shirt, but didn't make him try it on. "But maybe we should postpone it until they have coats in stock."

Calem barely kept his face indifferent. "If you insist." He stood still, thinking of possible strategies against the Fairy-type Gym Leader. He might be able to power his way through with Mawile, but he didn't have a backup plan.

Mawile, Pyroar, Sylveon, and…Juliet? Trapinch? Scyther?

Or maybe he should backtrack and search for a Metal Coat. Two Steel-types would be better than one…

Serena tapped him on the shoulder, snapping him back to attention. "The store's closing for the night," she said with a smile. "You have all night to figure out what you want to do for your battle."

"Have you bought your stuff yet?"

"I'll be back." Serena took his hand and pulled him toward the door. "Let's go."

* * *

For once, Calem woke up before Serena. It wasn't something he'd planned, or a nightmare, or even the excitement of battling the first Fairy-type specialist he'd ever encountered.

Instead, he had accidentally kicked himself in the shin hard enough to wake up, and the bright sunlight prevented the return to sweet sleep that he desperately wanted.

So he sat on his bed, petting his Sylveon as he waited for Serena to wake up. It was nearly ten minutes before she sat up, looking almost sick. She wasn't a morning person, after all. That was a relief.

She certainly woke up fast when she saw him already awake. She might have woken others with her shout.

"I don't like this any more than you do," he promised, taking a mental picture of Serena with her hair loose and messy. "I'll hit the sack early tonight to make up for it."

Serena slowly let out a breath and changed the subject. "Your plan was to battle the Gym Leader today, right? We should… _I_ should make myself presentable." She threw off the blanket and hauled herself out of bed. " _You_ don't look like much can be done to your appearance."

Calem almost protested, but she stepped into the bathroom to change clothes, letting Calem have the main room. It took another half-hour, but she stepped out looking like she was ready to face the world. Her readiness was almost all makeup and her desire for travel, then.

He'd think about it later. "I'll need to borrow a Pokémon or two," he said, somehow deciding that it was the best sentence to begin a new conversation with. "Think we can manage together?"

"We made it this far," Serena pointed out. "You want to exchange Eddie for Juliet, right?"

"Mawile," Calem corrected. "But let's keep Juliet on the table anyway…"

* * *

The Laverre City Gym was a giant dollhouse. Literally – it wasn't just pastel colors, but there were bedrooms, a sewing room, and the Gym trainers all wore fancy, doll-like outfits.

Serena checked the information on the Gym Leader. "It says that Valerie was born in Johto," she said, as if it cleared things up. "If she came from Ecruteak, then the famous Kimono Girls could have been her design inspiration."

Calem barely knew of the Kimono Girls, only that they were a dance group in Johto. He'd never been to Johto, and wasn't making plans to go there any time soon. So, instead, he just wandered past a bed to challenge the Gym trainer stationed there.

Mawile helped, though not really knowing any Steel-type moves was a downside that he'd failed to see. He probably should have evolved Scyther, but where was a guy supposed to get a Metal Coat around here?

They made it to Valerie on luck alone, and the lingering teleportation discomfort faded when they saw her up close. At first glance, she was beautiful – long hair, a soft smile, a pastel outfit that was even more fancy than the ones her apprentices wore.

A closer look showed that she was equally creepy. Her eyes had no visible pupil and next to no white, either an odd birth defect or costume contact lenses. Her hands were hidden by her sleeves, making her arms look more like bird wings than anything else. And when she spoke, her voice was just 'normal' enough to avoid accusations of being an alien.

"You must be Calem and Serena," she said, smiling. "Clemont told me you would be coming. Have you been enjoying your travels so far?"

"Oh, definitely," Serena said, and Calem, his gaze fixed on Valerie as if hypnotized, could only imagine how her eyes sparkled at the thought of continuing her adventures. "I've been enjoying the boutiques, too. Did you design all the stuff for the one here in Laverre City?"

"Some," Valerie confirmed.

Serena went on, ignoring Calem's desire for battle so she could keep talking about clothes. "I was wondering where you got your inspiration. I was thinking about getting into fashion myself, when my own badge quest ends, and wanted to ask you for tips."

Valerie tilted her head, as if studying her. "What area of fashion?" she asked after a moment. "Designing? Modeling? Editing magazines?"

"They all sound fun. I have modeling experience already, though, so…"

Valerie made a sound that was halfway between a purr and a chirp. "I thought I'd seen you before. An advertisement for…"

"A bridal shop located in Aquacorde Town," Serena finished, and Valerie nodded in excitement.

Calem groaned and hid his face with his hand. "I'll bet Sora never had to deal with this," he said under his breath. "At least not on his Keyblade adventures."

Serena rolled her eyes, but gestured to Calem, redirecting Valerie's attention to her challenger. "We can continue after you deal with him, can't we?" she asked, and Valerie hid another smile behind her sleeve-covered hand.

"I apologize for getting distracted, Calem," she said, before lowering the hand. "Are you prepared?"

Calem took a moment to give Mawile a Hyper Potion, and then took his place on the field. Valerie sent out her own Mawile first, so Calem had to switch from using Serena's Mawile to his own Pyroar.

The first battle was surprisingly easy.

* * *

Pyroar managed to defeat Valerie's Mawile, having had plenty of practice with Serena's. Valerie's next choice was a Sylveon, and Calem decided to use his own Sylveon for this battle.

Unfortunately, Sylveon was not used to fighting in important battles, and kept getting distracted by the fact that the audience was mostly humans, Valerie's assistants included. She managed to launch a few Swift attacks, but Valerie's Sylveon got the best of her. Juliet's Psychic-type attacks eventually took him out of the battle, but that just let Valerie call in her final Pokémon.

Calem felt his heartbeat pick up, and his brain shut down completely. He had forgotten the little fact that Mr. Mime had recently been reclassified as part Fairy-type. And a Repel wasn't going to chase this one off.

Valerie remained oblivious. "Is there something wrong?" she asked, her confusion adding to the oddness of her appearance.

Calem tried to speak, but all that came from his mouth was a squeak.

Fortunately, Serena could explain. "Calem's afraid of this one particular Pokémon," she explained. "It's not the first time this has happened."

Juliet looked over her shoulder, and then let out an annoyed huff, smoke coming from her nostrils as she showed just how irritated she was at this behavior.

"Well, I can't change it now," Valerie said, though she clearly regretted scaring her challenger like this. "If you'd told me sooner, I would have used an Aromatisse…"

Calem squeaked again, attempting to give Juliet a command. When the Delphox only stared at him as though he'd lost his mind, Serena had an idea.

"Can I finish the battle for him?" she asked. "I'll use his team, I promise."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" one of the Gym trainers complained.

Valerie held up a hand to stop her. "I'll allow it," she said. "I want to see where this goes. As long as she only uses her boyfriend's team, I see nothing wrong with it."

Serena didn't say a thing, only released the Pokémon she had with her. "Watch him," she commanded, as if they were her own, and Eddie pulled Calem from the field, letting Serena stand in his place. She heard some actual words from Calem, but "you, Rini" was the only thing she could make out.

She wasn't sure if Pyroar would follow her battle commands without a badge. She was positive that Scyther would not. But Juliet and Mawile were her Pokémon, and she had earned their love and respect through route battles and Pokepuffs.

"Use Flamethrower!" she ordered, and Juliet's 'wand' slipped from her fur-pocket as she prepared to attack.

"Reflect!" Valerie commanded, and Mr. Mime's puppet-like movements quickly made Serena uncomfortable, too.

The battle was harder than it needed to be. Still, with Juliet's Fire-type moves and resistance to both of Mr. Mime's offensive moves, Serena didn't have much to worry about.

* * *

Valerie gave Calem the badge, as he had been the one to officially challenge her. But since Serena was the one who had won the battle, she decided to give her a prize, as well.

"You asked me earlier about my design inspiration," she said, and Calem let them speak. "As a child, I wanted to grow up to be a Pokémon. As an adult, I take that dream and use it creatively."

Serena grinned. "All I wanted to do as a child was be a Pokémon trainer. I was attracted to power and travel even before my shopping instinct kicked in. I did design a Spritzee-inspired party dress once, but my art skills at thirteen were even worse than they are now."

Valerie turned to one of her assistants, who nodded as if giving permission. "When you complete your journey, Serena, I would love to work with you. As a model or a designing apprentice, it would be entirely up to you."

This time, it was Serena who was unable to make proper words, and communicating in small squeaking sounds. Calem laughed.

"I think she accepts," he said, looking over his awestruck friend.

Valerie hid another smile. "I believe she does," she agreed.

Serena closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had a grown-up goal now, something to do after her picture was in the Hall of Fame with those of her parents and Calem.

She briefly wondered what Calem was planning to do once his mom made him get a job, but the answer came immediately. He'd work for a video game company, of course. That was his thing, this was hers.

"It might take a while for our deal to start," Serena warned.

Valerie didn't mind. "You know where to find me," she pointed out. "I'll save a space for you."

She was even happier than she'd been when she'd met the professor. Calem allowed her to say "thank you" four times, but on the fifth, he said goodbye and pulled her out of the Gym doors.

They found Shauna and Trevor outside, talking about something that they must have needed to be there to understand. But Shauna was observant, and silenced Trevor almost immediately.

"We're heading to the Pokeball factory," she said, waving to get their attention. "Do you want to come?"

"A Pokeball factory?" That actually sounded interesting. Calem had always wondered what it was like inside a Pokeball, and how a hand-held ball could fit even a Snorlax. "Yeah, I'm in. What about you, Rini?"

"Why not?" Serena's enthusiasm about working with Valerie was leaking into everything, it seemed. "Let's do it!"


	24. Calem and the Pokeball Factory

**People should probably take Team Flare seriously, but at this point, not even Calem and Serena can.**

Serena had wanted to go back to the boutique, just to see if their stock had changed and maybe pick up a few things for herself and Calem. He humored her and got himself a striped shirt and backup pants, and of course Serena picked a pink coat that "had a lot of history in the Sinnoh region." They were out of there fast, and found the Pokeball factory almost as quickly.

The fact that Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor were standing outside didn't hurt.

"Maybe we should just give up," Trevor suggested. "They clearly don't want us in there. We could just go back to our journey and come back some other time."

"We're Pokedex carriers, Trevor," Shauna reminded him. "We _never_ give up."

"But can we really break into the Pokeball factory?" Tierno asked.

Shauna's smile was slightly unstable, but Calem and Serena knew not to stop her. If she had a plan, she was one step ahead of the rest of them.

She marched up to the door of the factory, as if she planned to physically fight whoever was guarding it. She was out of sight, but she wasn't quite out of earshot, and her loud scream about not liking to be chased quickly had her running down the path. She was followed by a Team Flare grunt, who was grumbling about how annoying she was.

Trevor and Tierno, reasonably, panicked, rushing after them in an attempt to save Shauna. Calem and Serena, knowing that Shauna could handle it herself, went to explore the factory without them.

That's what they would tell them when they got there, anyway. They really just wanted to see what Lysandre was up to, and they couldn't do that without a bit of investigating.

"It doesn't make sense," a female grunt was complaining to her friend, just inside the building. "Why would the boss wait until Pokedex season to do this? After what happened to all of the other Teams, why couldn't Flare be the first to actually not get the Pokedex carriers involved for once?"

Her friend shrugged. "I heard Professor Sycamore picked kids early this year. Maybe it's his fault. Maybe he's psychic."

"Or maybe he and Diantha _are_ one step ahead of Lysandre, after all," Serena whispered.

"Who knew?"

Calem immediately regretted speaking. A third grunt had heard him, caught him, and challenged him to a battle.

First the Mr. Mime, and now this. It was just not his day.

He should have stayed in bed.

* * *

The battle was a little more difficult than Calem was used to, but that was just because the grunt came with a Toxicroak. Scyther managed to Wing Attack it and finish it off, but had ended up poisoned and near-collapse himself.

The grunt dramatically fell to his knees, leaving Calem to try to figure out a way to whoever was commanding these poorly-dressed idiots.

And one option was looking much better than others.

"Have you ever wanted to ride a conveyor belt?" he asked, to Serena's surprise.

"Who hasn't?" She eyed the conveyor suspiciously. "Can it handle our combined weight?"

"Let's check it out!" Calem prepared to take a step. "Ready?"

Serena was right behind him. "Ready."

The belt could support their weight, after all. The Team Flare grunt that Calem had literally crashed into was just as surprised as they were.

"Intruders? How did you get past our one guard?"

"The guard ran away." Calem shrugged. "Maybe you should spend less money on your stupid uniforms and more money on high-tech security systems. Maybe then you wouldn't let the Pokedex carriers in."

They could almost see the 'Oh, crap' look on the grunt's face as he realized that the boy wasn't bluffing. Pokedex carriers must rank even higher than police on the 'who to avoid during your evil plot' list.

But the bosses trained him well, and he reached for a Pokeball. "You're not in the Hall of Fame yet," he said. "I can take you now."

Calem looked back at Serena. "Go ahead," he ordered. "I'll catch up. If you find another grunt, it'll be your turn to fight."

Serena turned and left, positive that she would find another.

Calem's opponent watched her go. "And you're sure you want your girlfriend to face my teammates unsupervised? She doesn't even have a Key Stone."

"She doesn't need one to deal with the likes of you," Calem said, his voice even. " _I_ don't need a Key Stone to deal with the likes of you."

"I am a member of Team Flare!"

Calem barely suppressed an evil laugh of his own. "That's my point."

And, as the grunt sent out a Mightyena, Calem sent out Sylveon. Sylveon, who could barely aim with Swift and didn't know a single offensive Fairy-type move.

 **"No wild Pokémon watching this time?"** Sylveon looked around in confusion, then at the Mightyena. She shivered involuntarily at its angry eyes, but quickly returned to normal. **"Are you the Pokémon that my trainer wants me to fight?"**

 **"What are you, stupid?"** Mightyena was caught off guard by the question. **"My trainer's here to steal Pokeballs. Your trainer's trying to save the Pokeballs. Of course we're expected to fight!"**

 **"Oh,"** said Sylveon, looking at the ground. She was clearly disappointed. **"If you say so."**

She did even better than Calem thought she would, and seemed disappointed when Calem wouldn't let her face the Golbat after Mightyena was down.

* * *

Serena had gotten caught by another Flare grunt, but she had a team that could stand up to both Fire-types and Dark-types. Calem walked by without getting involved in the fight, high-fiving Serena as he passed, and climbed up the metal stairs.

He didn't know how he managed to avoid calling every single Flare grunt right to him. He wasn't being anything close to quiet, and he was sure that there were plenty of other grunts placed around the area.

But he opened the door to the small room, and found two other women with weird glasses dressed in Team Flare orange. They were accompanied by a third woman in a white business suit, with hair of the same eye-burning color.

The opportunity was too good to pass up.

"Wow," Calem said, as if Serena were still by his side. "I guess it's true. There are living traffic cones hiding in the building."

As every other member of Team Flare had, the three women whirled around, focusing on Calem with such anger that he could physically feel it. "These uniforms are more expensive than your entire wardrobe combined, boy," the purple-haired woman snarled. "Your house, too, I'll bet."

An outfit more expensive than his house? He had no idea how much his house cost, he'd have to ask his mom when he got back, but something told him that anyone who spent more than Serena on a single outfit was not deserving of his sympathy. "That's money unwisely spent," was all he said. "You should ask for a refund."

"Absolutely not!" Was that…fear? "We can't quit! Our leader needs us!"

"Why?"

"Because his plans need money," the green-haired woman pointed out. "And we of Team Flare pay our entry fee to help him."

"Why?"

"Because we have to!"

"Why?"

"Because shut up!" the redhead snapped. She turned to an older man, a man they were clearly holding hostage. "You! Help us take these Pokeballs with us, or I'll have to tell you exactly what Team Flare's plans for world domination include!"

The man was unimpressed. "Making those suits mandatory?" he asked, so bitingly that Calem could nearly taste it.

He needed to get his senses straightened out.

But the redhead just smiled, an evil grin that made even Calem nearly take her seriously. Nearly. "Oh, but Mr. President," she said, a giggle threatening to break through, "our plans are much more entertaining than that."

Whatever she meant by that, the man was quick to turn to Calem. "Are you on a badge quest, boy?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Fight them off for me! Please!"

Calem looked over at the three women, uncertain. That's when Serena broke in, saw the two hideously orange suits standing next to each other, and felt her stomach churn as a wave of 'color sickness' crashed over her.

She forced herself to look away. "Dressing in traffic cones is _so_ last Halloween," she said, as if she was unaffected, and sent out her recently-evolved Vibrava at the same moment that Calem sent out Pyroar.

* * *

"So what if you beat us," the redhead said, after she had also been defeated by an annoyed Serena. "We've already stolen what we need."

"And you're not going to tell us why you needed these, are you?" Serena gestured to the outside of the factory. "Pokeballs don't work on captured Pokémon, so you can't be planning to use them to steal from trainers."

Calem made a sound of mock-disappointment. "Rini, please. You're giving them too much credit here. Clearly, they needed to steal Pokeballs so their grunts can have Pokémon."

"So what if that's true?" the purple-haired woman huffed. "Not all of us have the competence that we Scientists do."

"Or us Admins," the redhead added.

"Whatever."

"And yet you're all the first to defend your uniforms." Serena's sound of disappointment was entirely genuine. "You know you've been ripped off if you pay more than a dollar for those."

The green-haired woman made an equally-genuine sound of annoyance. "Can't you find anything else to comment on besides our outfits?"

"We can," Serena assured her.

"The outfits are just the only comments that can pass under a G rating," Calem finished. "We could give a few examples on your personalities, if you want a demonstration…"

"No. We're done." The three Team Flare members left, and the President of the Pokeball factory was finally free.

"I can't thank you enough," he said, "though I would have preferred that they didn't get away. We should have called the police."

"Cops are useless against organizations with Team in their names," Serena replied. "Let's face it, Calem and I are the only help you can get."

The man didn't argue. "Then I owe you each a Master Ball, I suppose. Trainers can always use one, in case you see a shiny from a species that likes to Selfdestruct." He took a moment to grumble something about a Voltorb. "If you'll give me a moment, I can find two of them for you."

As he turned to look for the Master Balls, Serena suddenly had a thought. Calem was almost surprised by her muffled laughter. "What?" he asked, and Serena waved it off.

"They had Master Balls here. Team Flare didn't take them." She laughed harder. "They're dumber than I thought."

"Give them some credit," Calem tried saying. "They managed to know where the Pokeball factory was. Maybe the Master Balls were just well-hidden."

The President opened a display case and handed over two Master Balls.

Calem stared at the one in his own hands. "Well," he said after a moment, "there goes their only defense."

Serena's amusement came to a halt as she was hit with another idea. "But what could a group of poorly-dressed, thought-deficient people be planning with Pokeballs and electricity?"


	25. The Obvious Reveal

**It's that time again, readers. This villain song is to "Hellfire" from Hunchback of Notre Dame. There's a standard disclaimer for potentially bad lyrics, the excuse this time being that our main intention was keeping the tune while changing the context. We succeeded in one. Let's see how well we do with the others.**

 **On an unrelated note, the shipping was surprisingly easy to write this time. It's Ferriswheel all over again.**

"…and though we have no real confirmation of their identities, the Pokeball Factory will continue to create its wonderful products for all of Kalos."

The Holo Caster shut off, the woman that had given the news report vanishing. Calem wondered why he'd answered it when it was ringing, but soon enough realized that he didn't know it wouldn't be Professor Sycamore asking if they were all fine.

And, after all, it was probably easier for Calem to talk to the professor than it would have been for Serena.

"Well, that was a useless infodump," he said instead, putting away his device. He looked up, seeing that Serena was nowhere to be found. "Rini? Where are you?"

"Exploring," was the answer he got. She was out of sight but not earshot, it seemed. "Looking for treasure."

"Found anything?"

"Oh, I think you'll like this one." She stepped into view from behind a bush, Vibrava beside her and a heavy item in her hands. "We were digging through scrap material and found a Metal Coat. I have no use for it, but if you want it…"

Calem's eyes lit up. "No way." When he looked more closely and saw that Serena wasn't lying, he released Scyther and held it out to him. "What do you say, Scyther? Want to ruin someone's day?"

The same light was reflected in Scyther's eyes, surprisingly enough. **"Yes,"** Scyther said breathlessly. **"Yes, I do."**

Scyther took the Metal Coat and hugged it. When nothing happened, he began to chew on it, and when that failed he looked up at Calem, betrayed.

"We need a trade to activate it," Calem explained, having been convinced that Scyther knew this before. Scyther impatiently threw the Metal Coat to the ground, but Calem picked it right back up. "We have Serena," he reminded him. "You know she'll return you immediately."

Scyther snatched the Metal Coat back. **"She doesn't want me?"** he asked, pretending he was offended.

 **"Nobody wants you,"** Vibrava commented, so casually that Scyther almost assumed he was talking to somebody else. **"Except Calem, maybe, but he got you because nobody _else_ wanted you."**

 **"Who told you that?"**

 **"Mawile,"** was the immediate answer.

 **"What does she know?"**

 **"And Juliet, and Pancham, and Pyroar."**

 **"Pyroar? Pyroar's a teammate! He's not supposed to betray me like that!"**

 **"He'll also have a double type advantage as soon as you finish the trade,"** Vibrava pointed out. **"You probably don't want to mess with him."**

Scyther's retaliation was cut short as Calem called him back to his ball, and Serena did the same with Vibrava. Their duty now was to return to Laverre City and evolve Scyther.

* * *

Calem had known what a Scizor looked like, of course. That didn't change the fact that seeing one up close was a lot different than seeing one in pictures, and having the red Pokémon as a member of his team made it even more different.

Calem reached into his pocket, where the Scizorite that the Guru had given him was still waiting. Now he could finally hand it over. "Do you think you're ready for this?"

Scizor held out his claws expectantly. This was why he'd joined Calem, after all: the potential to kick some serious butt. The Scizorite felt weird in his grip, but that was nothing compared to how it fell to the ground, rolling just slightly out of the way.

Calem went after it and picked it up before it could go out of sight. "We might have a problem," he said after a moment.

Serena looked thoughtful. "Well," she said after a moment, "I may have a solution, but you might not like it."

"What solution?" Calem asked, and almost immediately regretted it.

"We go see the professor," Serena answered plainly. When her friend whined, she held up her hands. "Hey, I know how you feel. Sort of. But the professor studies Mega Evolution, which means that he's probably encountered a Mega Scizor before. Maybe he could give us something that could keep the Scizorite in place."

"Do we have to?" There was more annoyance than ever in his tone. Stupid, beautiful Professor Sycamore. The reports said that he had a girlfriend, and he was taking Calem's girl friend, too. It wasn't _fair._

Serena's expression didn't change. "It's that or we use a shoestring," she said.

Calem immediately started studying the frayed strings lacing up his boots. Serena rolled her eyes and hooked her hand around his collar.

"Why don't you want to go see the man who gave you Eddie?" she asked.

"I don't know, why don't you want to go and see Diantha on set?" Calem pulled himself free, not noticing that his Scizor was following them with his eyes, as if this was entertaining.

"Um, because they won't let me due to spoilers?" She shrugged. "Yes, Diantha's an attractive woman _before_ editing, and sure, being around her makes me irrationally annoyed. But my problem with her isn't that she's pretty, it's the gossip magazines talking about her relationship with what amounts to the man of my dreams. I mean that literally, I have dreamed about the professor. I know it's the only place a relationship with him will happen for me."

"I didn't need to know that," Calem complained.

"What, that I mentally acted out a bad romance fanfic with Professor Sycamore?" Serena looked surprised when he flinched. "Who _hasn't_?"

"Not me."

"Well, obviously not. I should have specified, but I thought you'd know what I meant." Serena eyed his bag, where he kept his Holo Caster, but reached for her own. "Should I call him for you, or do you need time to put your self-esteem away before he breaks it?"

"No, I got it." Calem pulled out his Holo Caster, hoping that the professor had what he'd need.

* * *

Professor Sycamore was not in his lab. He was at Lysandre's café, waiting for his friend to begin the monologue that he knew was coming.

Lysandre was being uncharacteristically quiet, as if waiting for Sycamore to begin the conversation. After five minutes passed and neither spoke, Lysandre finally began.

"There's a storm coming, Augustine," he said, casually using the professor's first name now that they were in his territory. "I would like to ask for your help."

"What do you want me to do?" An innocent question, yes, but it left the possibility open for a refusal.

Lysandre heard it, but allowed him to make his own choices. "I want you to convince Diantha to join me. The two of you are… _close,_ according to the gossip magazines." There was the slightest smile on his face now. "More than close, if the reports of a certain meeting by the Anistar sundial were correct in their assumption."

"That report came from Diantha's agent," Sycamore confirmed. "We agreed that my research and Diantha's movies were more important for the public to know about than our love lives, so we simply don't deny anything that isn't false." His voice was neutral, but the suspicion in his eyes was not something that Lysandre could miss. "But this isn't about that, is it? This has nothing to do with the fact that you're technically a third wheel now."

"You're right," Lysandre said, smile fading. "It isn't. I just thought she would listen to your reasoning over mine." He took a sip of coffee, the thoughts in his head tripping over each other as he tried to put what he needed to say in a way that the professor would understand it. "I approve of the relationship, by the way. I don't know if I told you. Our lives have been busy lately."

"It will settle down once the kids finish their journey," the professor promised. "But back to your request, Lysandre. You never did tell me what it was that you wanted to do."

There was another moment of silence. "You and Diantha are two of the most beautiful people I have ever met," Lysandre said, and the suspicion in his friend's eyes melted into confusion. "You deserve each other, and I want you to join me and be happy."

The confusion wasn't just in his eyes anymore. "Thank you?" Sycamore said uncertainly.

"And that is why I'd prefer to _not_ kill you both, if I can help it."

And back to horror. "What?"

He didn't get an answer. At least, not an answer that would have put the comment in a better context. Instead, the answer came in musical form.

 _"I know you, Professor  
You try to be a decent man  
I know your students try to make you proud…"_

"Lysandre!"

 _"You know me, Professor  
You know I think we're far above  
The common, selfish, weak and worthless crowd._

 _"So tell me, Professor  
Why I see them standing there  
The boy and girl are everywhere I go_

 _"I hear him, I see her  
Every time I turn around  
My rage is burning out of all control…"_

"Lysandre, please!" Sycamore didn't even try not to sound desperate this time.

Lysandre didn't listen.

 _"Like fire  
Dark fire  
The line is just too thin  
My one true  
Desire  
How can it hope to win?"_

"You're not making sense," Sycamore tried to point out, but Lysandre took the opportunity to explain himself through more song.

 _"It's not my fault!  
I'm not to blame!  
It was the world itself that lit this spark of shame!_

 _"I've thought it through.  
I have a plan.  
To send the world back to when it began!"_

Professor Sycamore had always sensed that Lysandre would 'snap.' He wasn't stupid. He'd just been convinced that there was hope, that maybe all of his disproportionate threats were empty and the 'snap' would come in simple bursts of anger that ripping up paper would fix. He'd never started playing with black magic, after all. And the time when Lysandre threatened to bomb a guy's house was fresh in Sycamore's mind, though it had been nearly a year ago and he'd never once saw anything out of the ordinary. He'd even sent Dexio and Sina on a stakeout at the intended victim's house, to find nothing.

But it was too late to help him now. There was only one thing that the scientist could do now, and it was not what Lysandre had planned. The only option was to send people to stop him. Hopefully the Pokedex carriers wouldn't get involved this time...at least the 'Heroes of Kalos' had volunteered to fight Team Flare for him.

 _"So join me, Professor  
Don't let those children loose again  
Or you may see them roasted to the bone._

 _"This Calem and Serena  
I don't wish to hurt you, my good friend  
But these brats of yours just won't leave me alone…"_

The waiter of the café cleared his throat, getting his boss's attention. "I don't want to interrupt your big number, sir," he said nervously, "but Professor Sycamore escaped."

"What?" Lysandre looked back at where his friend had been seated, and sure enough, he was gone. "I told you to guard the door!"

"He climbed out the window when you were distracted by your song," the waiter continued.

Lysandre's already dark mood turned darker. "This is his choice," he said coldly. "If he picked those annoyances over me, then he and Diantha will spend eternity together in the afterlife. I'm flexible as to _where_ my ship is canon."

"Sir, please stop shipping real people."

Lysandre ignored it.

 _"In fire  
My fire  
The world we know will burn.  
_ _Those kids you  
Inspired  
They'll just have to learn…"_

"We're going to try to attack the Pokedex carriers directly?" The waiter knew better than to directly go against Lysandre's orders, but quickly returned to his duties as Lysandre moved to the secret room in the back of the café.

Lysandre closed the door behind him, and let himself finish the song in solitude.

 _"I tried to save the earth  
_ _From stupidity  
But I had to decide  
The world must burn."_

Not bad for improvisation, Lysandre decided. But the more carefully planned parts of his plot were obviously more important than the big musical number in the long run.

And his first step was waiting for reports on the Pokeball Factory.

* * *

Professor Sycamore had seemed distracted when Calem called, as if he was worried about something and trying to suppress it. He might have noticed their obvious concern, and deflected their suspicions.

"I just haven't slept right," he said, though they both immediately saw through the lie. "Coffee can only get you through so much, after all, but my research is time-consuming."

They weren't stupid. They knew that Lysandre was behind whatever Sycamore was worried about. But if Diantha had been so sure that she was one step ahead of Lysandre, they weren't going to question her decision.

"Can you find something that will let Scizor keep the Scizorite in his grasp?" Calem asked, pretending not to notice. "I know it's against the rules of battle to give your Pokémon more than one item to hold, but I can just not hand him anything else."

"I can do it," the professor promised. "I'll meet you in Dendemille Town. There are some legends I want to investigate in that area, and it's on the way to Anistar City. I assume you're headed there, it has a Gym."

"Good enough reason," Calem said, and was about to turn off his Holo Caster when Sycamore spoke again.

"You have fireproofed your team, haven't you, Calem?"

The Pokedex carriers both went silent. "Pyroar and Sylveon aren't weak to fire," Calem said slowly. "And we regularly beat Serena–"

"Three times isn't regular," Serena interrupted.

"-so we have to have something going for us," Calem finished, ignoring her. She stuck out her tongue like a child.

Professor Sycamore looked disapproving, but he dropped the topic to turn on Serena instead. "And you? Have you found a way to deal with Juliet's Water-type weakness?"

"I plan to catch a Grass-type," she said, much more quickly than Calem had explained his own lack of coverage. "My mom says that I can catch a Phantump or Pumpkaboo on Route 16, so I don't need to backtrack. If I had a Grass-type instead of Electric, I'll cover Juliet's Water weakness and Mawile's weakness to Ground."

Another look of disappointment, but no more explanation for it than he'd given Calem. "I'll get Scizor's thing," he said, once again distracted. "I do need to send Dexio and Sina on a mission first, and make an important call to Diantha…again. I'll see you there."

He switched off. Calem and Serena shared a look as Calem put his Holo Caster away.

"Well, we know Lysandre probably has a Fire-type," he said, reaching for his Pyroar's ball. Pyroar was the best defense he had, even if he did go back and find that his promised Tyrunt was already waiting for him.

"And a Water-type," Serena concluded. She had more to stall Water-types than Calem had for Fire, but a super-effective Pokémon was what they both needed. "Do you really think we're the Pokedex carriers that can handle all of Team Flare?"

"We've handled them so far," Calem reminded her. "Sure, Lysandre's probably tougher than the rest. But if child Link could handle Majora, we can handle this."

"Didn't he have the Fierce Deity's Mask, though? I thought it was required."

She'd missed his point, of course. His point was that his video game protagonist theory was still very much an option in his mind. Still…

"I thought all your money went to clothes and makeup and trainer items."

"Usually." She shrugged, indicating that her priorities did not exclude other interests. "I've only played three games in the whole series, but I watch a lot of Let's Plays."

So that's how she recognized the names of Gordon Freeman and Samus Aran. While his first instinct was to jokingly drop down on one knee and ask her to marry him, his second instinct was much more appropriate for the setting. "I have Portal 2 and a backup controller," he suggested. "You want to become a robot and kill me a million times?"

"Knowing you, Calem?" Serena playfully bumped him with her shoulder. "Who wouldn't?"

"So let's make a plan. If we survive Lysandre, I'll introduce you to my entire collection. Sound cool?"

Serena's answering smile made him almost as dizzy as Diantha's had. "It's a date," she said, and Calem was only mostly sure she was joking.


	26. Phantom Tantrum

**Don't worry. Calem will have a way to stop Fire-types eventually.**

Route 15 was a place where it constantly seemed to be September. Despite the relatively warm weather, leaves of all colors but green were scattered on the ground, the trees already nearly bare.

Of course, perhaps October was a better time of year to compare it to. A long-abandoned building caught their attention, and they figured that as long as Professor Sycamore had to track somebody down to get his hands on Scizor's Mega Stone holder, he could wait to hand it over.

But the closer they got to the stairs that led under the ruins, the more Serena had second thoughts.

"Maybe we should get to Dendemille Town and wait for the professor," she said, hugging herself as if she were cold. "Waiting would cut into the time he needs to put Lysandre back on his leash."

Calem was confused. "I didn't think you were scared of ghosts."

"It's not ghosts," Serena said, as calmly as she could. "I'm afraid of crazed murderers that could have made this place their hideout. Or maybe we found where Team Flare produces their uniforms, I'm not sure which would be scarier."

"Or a horde of zombie murderers wearing Team Flare uniforms," Calem suggested, and Serena flinched. "Come on, Rini. You know fashion better than I do. You should know that the only way to produce suits that hideously orange could only happen by taking regular business suits and dyeing them with toxic waste." She smiled a bit, but remained where she was, not getting any closer. "You really don't want to explore?"

"I like looking at ruins from the outside." She flattened her coat, and took one glance down the stairs that led to the underground chambers. "You can go ahead if you want to. I'll just be looking for a Pumpkaboo or Phantump."

"I thought your mom said those were on Route 16."

"Then I'll find my way there."

With that, Serena turned and walked away without another word. Calem waited a moment longer, then turned and followed her.

He'd had so much adventure with her that an adventure without her sounded boring.

* * *

The path called Route 16 wasn't much different from Route 15. There was a boulder blocking the path to a certain grass patch that would usually require Strength to get to, but with Eddie pushing and Juliet Psybeaming it, the move wasn't necessary.

"Was that legal?" Serena asked once they had already done it, moving forward as if she barely cared.

"If so," Calem said, "faking ignorance might work to defend us in court. Do you want a Grass-type or not?"

Serena wisely shut up and focused on her search. "Which one do you think would be cuter?" she asked after a minute. "I'm thinking Pumpkaboo, since their evolution…"

"Then catch a Pumpkaboo. It's not a hard decision."

"Which size, though?"

That one stopped him mid-thought. "What was that?"

"You can find a Pumpkaboo in different size categories," Serena explained. "They _are_ pumpkins, after all. Or look like them, anyway, no one knows if they're haunted pumpkins or just have that form to scare people…"

"Focus, Rini. What's the difference between its sizes?"

"That, I don't know." She looked around for any sign of a Pumpkaboo, finding nothing.

"So catch the first one you find," Calem told her. "Just let fate decide."

"But what if they are different? What if they have different strengths depending on size? What if sizes have different movesets? What if…"

"No." Calem's voice was firm, and caught Serena by surprise. "Catch the first one you find. We'll ask the professor about the rest of it once we get to Dendemille Town."

"But what if…"

"Pick one, Serena!"

The sound of his sudden shout, while it did not scare Serena, did startle a Pumpkaboo out of hiding. A Phantump floated along with it, almost as if to calm it down. The Pumpkaboo hid behind the Phantump, and the Phantump glared directly at Calem.

Then, though Serena was the one looking for a Grass-type, the Phantump challenged Calem to battle.

* * *

The Phantump was not a real threat, but Calem took it easy on him anyway and used Eddie's Grass-type attacks. It was a way to distract him from defending the Pumpkaboo, and giving Serena and Mawile a clear shot. The Pumpkaboo, it seemed, was on to this.

"Come on!" Serena whined as Pumpkaboo burst out of the third ball she'd thrown. The thought to use her Master Ball crossed her mind, but she resisted the temptation. "What do you want? Do you want us to catch both of you?"

Mawile stopped, her urge to blast her opponent with another Fairy Wind forgotten. **"Can Calem afford to have another Pokémon weak to Fire-types?"**

 **"I wouldn't mind, if Phantump went,"** Pumpkaboo offered.

 **"Your condition for coming with us is if your friend comes, too?"** Mawile pointed to where Calem was engaged in the battle with the Phantump.

 **"We did agree to evolve together,"** Pumpkaboo told her, floating back to the ground. **"We haven't figured out a way to trigger the trade effect in the wild, so we've been trying to find two trainers to take us."**

 **"So you're trying to be captured together?"** Mawile had never seen anything like this before. It was almost interesting. **"Do you really think you two can make your friendship work when you have different trainers?"**

Pumpkaboo looked confused. **"Aren't these two trainers paired up? One boy, one girl…alone, in the ruins...weren't they here to...?"** she made a weird kissing sound.

 **"They're a team,"** Mawile explained, giving Serena a smug grin that confirmed the trainer's suspicions that they were talking about her. **"But not a _pair_ pair. Serena wants to see the world, Calem just wants to go home to his Xbox. Hard for humans to have a relationship when they're in two different regions."**

Pumpkaboo returned the smug look. **"Difficult,"** she repeated, before looking back at Calem and Phantump, **"but not impossible."**

Mawile's scream of laughter diverted Calem's attention. When he saw that his travel buddy was still mid-battle, he cleared his throat impatiently. "Why haven't you caught it yet?"

"I guess Pumpkaboo got distracted by making friends with Mawile," Serena said, not sure how good her explanation was. "She broke three Pokeballs already, it's driving me insane."

Eddie saw Phantump look back, and rolled his eyes. **"Do you want Calem to catch you, or something?"**

 **"Can you communicate with him?"** Phantump's nearly childlike excitement at the thought made it easy to see where _this_ Ghost-type's horrifying urban legend came from. It was even more disturbing the longer Eddie thought of it.

 **"I'll see what I can do,"** he said, in the hopes that a Trevenant would be easier to deal with, and turned back to Calem. Then he mimed digging around in a bag, and throwing a Pokeball at Phantump.

Calem understood. "No." The Phantump sunk down in sorrow, and Calem found himself backtracking, as if trying to console a sad child. "It's not that you're a bad Pokémon! I'd love to have you on my team. I just _really_ can't afford another Pokémon with a Fire weakness."

Phantump straightened up, a look of defiance in his eyes.

 **"This is gonna suck,"** Eddie stated, and covered his entire head with his paws.

Phantump unleashed a horrifying, ghostly wail, sustaining a single note for over a minute, even as his tail and tiny arms pounded on the ground. Wild Pokémon raced for cover. Other trainers on the route ran back to the nearest Pokémon Center. Mawile and the humans followed Eddie's lead, while Pumpkaboo joined in, her own screech echoing off the trees.

"Ok, fine!" Calem shouted over the noise, and the Pokémon tantrum faded to disorganized whimpers and Pumpkaboo fell on her face. Once he could hear himself think again, Calem pulled a Pokeball from his bag. He gave it a gentle toss, and Phantump immediately raced for it. Once the ball had closed and there was no more time for Phantump to escape, Pumpkaboo finally went into the Great Ball that Serena threw. Her post-tantrum exhaustion might have helped.

Their older Pokémon went to pick up their newer ones, but Serena was staring in horror at the ball in Eddie's grip. "Did they just use a _joint_ _Perish Song_?" she asked uncertainly.

Calem swallowed hard as he accepted the ball from his equally-traumatized Chesnaught. "I don't really think that was an _attack,_ " he said, an unpleasant shiver rolling down his spine. "That was just a temper tantrum."

Serena's smile was forced. "Does this mean we're parents now?"

"If so, we already messed up. You can't let a screaming toddler get what it wants all the time."

"Yeah," Serena agreed, voice cracking a little bit. "Sometimes you have to let it wear itself out and pretend it's not your kid."

Calem watched as she got down to take Pumpkaboo's ball from Mawile. "I'm ready to be the worst adoptive dad ever," he joked, trying to lighten the mood. "And I have you as my backup. As long as it's not an actual baby, we can handle the parent thing together."

Serena stopped at the thought, her eyes going wide with a mix of horror and embarrassment. "The last time I played mommy, my baby doll ended up without its head," Serena warned, wondering if she should have searched for a different Pumpkaboo. "I should not be trusted with a child."

Calem gave Phantump a quick scan with the Pokedex, then put both away in their proper places. "Phantump can get out before the final head-popping blow," he decided. "The danger might even do him some good. And if all else fails, he gets sent to my mom for discipline and lets me have space for a Water-type."

"You can catch one anyway, you know."

"And you can shut up and get a move on," Calem teased. "After all, the kids should know that 'Mommy' loves Professor Sycamore more than she loves 'Daddy,' and…"

"Call us 'Mommy' and 'Daddy' again and I'll snap you in half," Serena hissed, but Calem noticed her light smile.

Mawile and Eddie shared a pointed look before returning to their own balls. The rest of their teammates would be introduced to the new members once they reached Dendemille Town, and this would be a fun story to make up details about.


	27. Fun in Frost Cavern

**In which they FINALLY recognize Team Flare as an actual threat.**

They made it to Dendemille Town just minutes before the professor did. One of his assistants followed him, but the other was nowhere to be seen.

"I thought you were sending them both on a mission," Calem said once Sycamore had come close enough to hear.

"It could be done by Sina alone," Sycamore promised. "How are you enjoying your travels? Are you finding an interest in anything other than battles?"

"Serena's got the promise of an internship with Valerie," Calem said half-helpfully. "I'm still looking."

Serena glanced at Calem, then back to Sycamore. "What made you decide to be a researcher, Professor? Maybe Calem could find something similar."

"That," Sycamore said, "is a long and complicated story. But speaking of my research, I believe I have something that Calem might find necessary."

He and Dexio each carried a piece of Scizor's new armor, and snapped them all together for the final product. As the final step, Calem put the Scizorite in the center.

Stepping back to admire their work, Calem grinned and raised the hand with the Mega Ring. "We'll test this out at our next Gym battle," he promised. "We have to work on bonding a little more, right?"

 **"Not necessarily,"** Scizor started, but his complaint fell on deaf ears as Professor Sycamore mentioned wanting to look up legends about a Pokémon rumored to have great power. From what he said, he wanted to find out where this Pokémon was to study it. What Calem and Serena heard was that he wanted to find this mythical Pokémon before Lysandre could. What Scizor heard was that Professor Sycamore was sending them on another pointless sidequest.

Soon enough, the professor and his assistant left, after making Calem promise to stop by the lab and give a demonstration of Mega Evolution. His leaving was immediately followed by the arrival of Trevor.

"I missed him?" Trevor groaned and hid his face in his hand. "Of course I did, I _just_ got my Pokedex to the point where I'd like to show it off…"

"Look at it this way." Serena smiled more believably now, her encounter with Sycamore having made up for her 'experience' with parenting. "Your Pokedex will have even more entries when you finally do get to show it off!"

"You're right," Trevor agreed, though he still sounded disappointed. "I just wanted to show him that he made the right choice when he gave me this responsibility."

"He made the right choice with all of us. You'll fill your Pokedex, and Calem and I are going to work hard to earn places in the Hall of Fame."

"And Tierno and Shauna are going to do…whatever it is they do," Calem finished.

Serena rolled her eyes at the statement, but Trevor didn't seem to care. "They are," he said, as if that statement made him less frustrated. "You are. And I guess that means that I am, too." He reached for his Pokedex, then started on his way. "I'm heading up to Frost Cavern. Do you want to come, too?"

"We'll meet you there," Serena promised. "Come on, Calem. We need to introduce our full teams to the new members."

"Or we can do it on the way," he pointed out. "The faster we get through this, the sooner we can make plans to stay out of Team Flare's business."

"Better idea," Serena agreed, and they started up the path.

* * *

"I should have seen this coming," Calem groaned, his face in his hands. "I let her out of her ball, and turned my back for two seconds."

"Still," Trevor said, trying to suppress laughter, "you'll never be bored again with her around. Not even when the power goes out and you can't play your games."

Sylveon looked up at her trainer innocently, pretending that she didn't have a large icicle stuck on her tongue. She'd meant to pick it up as a present for him, but hadn't taken the cold into consideration. So, of course, she was kind of surprised that it refused to fall off.

At least Scizor thought it was funny.

 **"Never seen winter before, have you?"** He reached down as if to pull it off, but instead just patted her head condescendingly.

 **"Leave her alone,"** Eddie said, as if this was a regular thing. **"She just wanted to give Calem a present."**

 **"And yes, they are always like this,"** Pyroar explained to a confused Phantump. **"Sylveon does something without thinking, Scizor doesn't let it go until the next one happens."**

Sylveon spit out the icicle, her warm breath finally melting it enough to free her. **"It tastes like water,"** she said unnecessarily.

It came as a surprise to no one that the entire team meeting Phantump and Pumpkaboo was going to get weird. It wasn't even a surprise that Sylveon was the one who ruined it. But the Mamoswine that Serena was currently trying to rent for them was more than a little stunned.

 **"Don't worry,"** Juliet promised. **" _You_ don't have to deal with this after today."**

 **"That 'leave her alone' was for you, too,"** Eddie pointed out, but a falsely-innocent look from Juliet shut him up as he wondered why he liked her in the first place.

Calem and Serena ignored the conversations their Pokémon were having, hoping that Calem wouldn't run out of warmth as he wandered through Frost Cavern. He'd layered as much extra clothing as he could under his usual blue outfit, but he still envied Serena's nice-looking coat, even if the color was not his first choice.

"Ready to go, everybody?" Calem asked, preparing to leave. His Pokémon agreed, and once he made sure that Sylveon did not have anything else stuck to her tongue, he returned them all and turned to Serena.

Serena called all of her Pokémon back, too, but moved ahead without the Mamoswine. "You all might have been too distracted by Sylveon to notice this," she warned, "but the Mamoswine apparently doesn't want us. We're doing this on foot...and by that, I mean our own."

* * *

There wasn't much in Frost Cavern, Calem decided as he huddled between Pyroar and Juliet, their natural heat getting through his layers almost as easily as nature's current temperature. And as cold as he was, he was just as concerned for Serena, who, despite her warm-looking coat and high socks, had not put long pants on and was currently shivering as snow melted into her very non-waterproof shoes. She didn't even have a hat.

"Note to self," she muttered, kicking a nearby rock so that snow fell from her toes and the rock's top. "Go into fashion design, not modeling. Make things that are stylish _and_ useful."

"You could have just bought boots, too," Calem pointed out. Were his teeth chattering? If so, he'd deny it.

Serena glared at him, but said nothing. Instead, she stepped forward, and slid on a patch of ice that was so slick it sent her to the other side of the chamber.

That was when her frustrated scream bounced off the walls, and Calem was momentarily convinced that it was going to trigger an avalanche like in all the cartoons. But no more ice or snow entered the cavern, and Calem let go of the Fire-types to follow her across the ice.

It occurred to him, briefly, that they had lost Trevor a while back. He pushed it out of his mind almost as quickly, coming to the conclusion that if Trevor had made it this far, he would be fine on his own. He slid more carefully, knowing to expect it, and still barely caught himself before he crashed into Serena headfirst.

She took it well, though. "You almost had me there," she teased, so close in their cramped space that he could feel her breath. "We're so close, a bad romantic comedy movie might go for an almost-kiss."

"Maybe later," Calem teased right back. "First, we'd have to get into a situation where we would have to rely on some ridiculous, plausibly platonic but usually romantic thing to get out of. Then we'd do it, people would think we were amazing, and then we'd have that almost-kiss. And _then_ my controlling current girlfriend would drag me away and try to sabotage your internship with Valerie."

Serena's teasing smile grew brighter. "I didn't know you were so into romantic comedies, Calem."

"My mom goes for the 'comedy' end when picking for family movie night," he admitted. "They're all the same, some just have better jokes than others."

Serena looked out at the long stretch of ice in front of them, then back to where their Pokémon were slowly inching across, using their claws to give themselves a slightly better grip. Then she looked back at Calem. "Is ice skating a plausibly platonic but usually romantic thing?"

"Usually," Calem agreed, knowing exactly where she was going with this. "But I don't know how to ice skate."

"Neither do I."

And she stepped out onto the ice again, carefully aiming just right so she could catch herself on a rock, or a wall, or a pile of snow. She paused after her second movement, allowing Calem to mirror her first, and then took off to another space to wait.

He might have figured out a way through Frost Cavern without her, but it wouldn't have been half as much fun.

* * *

Trevor joined them toward the end of the path, with the excuse that he was busy collecting Pokedex data. Under normal circumstances, Calem and Serena would have let it go, and maybe even congratulated him.

This time, it was something entirely different. Because, this time, three Team Flare members were cornering an Abomasnow, and they needed an even number to deal with it.

One was a scientist, they could tell from her blue hair and flared skirt. The others were grunts, dressed in business suits and pigtails, just like all the others. They all had their backs to the Pokedex carriers, and luckily, Abomasnow looked over and returned to its current situation without pointing them out. It didn't think that three kids were good enough to take on people in uniform.

It really should start thinking twice.

"Leave the Abomasnow alone," Calem called, and three heads turned at once. "What's it ever done to deserve looking at you?"

The scientist was not impressed. "If you're going to insult us, boy, do it creatively. If you can't think of something original, don't waste our time."

Calem gave her his best mocking grin. "And think of the precious seconds you just wasted in telling me that."

One of the grunts snickered. "He has a point, Mable. You did waste time."

"Shut up!" Mable snapped back. "We came here to catch this Abomasnow, not listen to what a bunch of meddling kids have to say!"

"Did you really steal all of those Pokeballs just for one Abomasnow?" Serena didn't sound angry. She sounded entirely defeated. "We can't even call you competent villains anymore, can we?"

"We never did," Calem reminded her.

"It wasn't _just_ the Abomasnow, stupid girl!" Mable gestured to the Pokémon in question, who now seemed curious as to where this whole thing was going. "Don't you have someone else to annoy?"

"Not really." Serena shrugged. "Professor Sycamore already left town. My friends and I don't really know anyone else."

"Why do you even want this Abomasnow, anyway?" Trevor asked. "It looks like you're a Fire-type trainer. Abomasnow, in case you didn't know, is not a Fire-type."

"It's the energy! The energy of this Abomasnow, and other powerful Pokémon! It will not only make people like you three take us seriously, but it will take us right to the top!"

"Top of what?"

The woman laughed, a cruel, twisted sound that made Calem wonder if maybe they'd judged a book by its cover…or, a group by its uniforms. "The food chain, kid," she said once it was settled. "Survival of the fittest. We have money, we have Pokeballs…now all we need is energy. And then Team Flare will be the 'fittest' that phrase speaks of. Why should we bother saving people who aren't on our side? We've tried that, and were met with nothing but more demands. Now it's _our_ turn to demand."

"I see a few holes in that plan," Serena started, but the woman reached for a ball before she could start on the topic.

"If you disapprove of this plan, I would love to hear your own."

Serena opened her mouth to speak.

"I was being sarcastic!"

Serena's mouth closed again.

"I believe in your plans, Rini," Trevor said quietly.

"I believe in your strength," Calem added, just as quiet. "You take her. We can handle her accomplices."

Mable threw her Pokeball, releasing a Houndoom. Serena immediately understood why Calem had sent her to deal with this, and mentally congratulated him on his foresight.

But she needed her voice for other things.

"Let's do this, Vibrava!"

* * *

Serena won. There had never been any doubt about that. Just like there was no doubt that Mable would not take well to losing and lead her underlings away without even trying to catch the Abomasnow again.

"At least they answered our question about why they stole Pokeballs," Trevor commented. "They've always scared me, but at least it's rational now."

"They really are stupid," Calem said, almost over him. When Trevor looked confused, Calem gestured to Serena. "When we chased them out of the Pokeball Factory, they took the standard kind, Great Balls, and Ultra Balls."

"So?"

"There were Master Balls in a display case."

A moment of silence passed through the group.

"Wow." It was the only word Trevor could say.

"Yeah." Calem kicked the snow. "You can see why we never saw that whole 'Team Flare at the top of the food chain' thing working out for them."

Serena wasn't paying much attention to the boys. She was watching as the Abomasnow turned around and picked up a small stone that was wedged into a hole in the rock wall behind it. Making eye contact with her, it held it out, and waited until her hands were in the receiving position before dropping it.

Serena had never seen this stone in her life, but she knew what it was anyway. "Is this an Abomasite?"

Abomasnow nodded. **"Just in case you needed one."**

Serena did not have an Abomasnow, of course, but she put it in her bag anyway. She could always give it to Professor Sycamore. In his department of research, he could never have too many Mega Stones.

"Thank you," she said to the Pokémon. "We'll be leaving now. Just freeze those fashion victims if you ever see them again." Abomasnow gave her a salute, and she returned it before looking back at her friends. "Come on, guys," she said with a bright smile. "Let's go back down. Calem needs to have a Gym battle in Anistar City, and I hear they have a boutique down there, too."

"But what do we do about Mable's threat?" Trevor dared to ask.

"We leave them to take themselves out," Calem answered.

Serena's glare shut him up fast. "We'll get involved," she decided for them both. "You can't deny that Calem can be obscenely lucky when he needs to be. He's only ever lost one important battle."

"And only because Hawluchas are evil," Calem added.

Trevor looked between them, then shook his head. "Not even going to ask." He pulled out his Pokedex and scanned the Abomasnow, proving that the conversation was over.

Our heroes left him there, figuring that he could find his own way back to Dendemille Town if he got hungry or cold enough. And they had more important things on their minds, anyway.

Like exactly how Team Flare intended to put their 'survival of the fittest' plot into action.


	28. Bigger on the Inside

**I may or may not have missed the Doctor Who references. We're currently too far behind to make many of them.**

The snow had started to melt by the time Calem and Serena returned from Frost Cavern, but the slightly warmer temperature did not do any good for Serena's mood, which only seemed to get worse as they approached Dendemille Town once again. Calem quickly figured out that the cause was likely her wet socks, and suggested backtracking to Laverre City to pick her up some nice boots.

"And let Team Flare get away?" she demanded, crossing her arms over her chest in irritation. "No. We deserve an explanation."

Calem didn't push her any more. Instead, they stopped so she could her warm her feet and dry her shoes and socks at the Pokémon Center, and then they started on their way again.

Route 17 was also known as Mamoswine Road, and it was easy to see why. In order to cross the path, which was covered in boulders and deep snow, a Mamoswine was the most obvious form of transportation. The Mamoswine from earlier was there already, and the trainer recognized Calem and Serena.

"Did you figure out what was going on at Frost Cavern? Mamoswine seems to have calmed down."

"You do _not_ want to know," Serena said irritably, and met Calem's eyes before gesturing to the Mamoswine. "Well? Help me up. You're the one with experience."

"As you wish, Princess," Calem replied immediately, matching her tone. He lifted her off the ground and tossed her on the back of the Mamoswine before pulling himself up.

At least that broke through Serena's bitterness. "Did throwing me hurt?" she asked quietly.

"Yes," Calem admitted. "Video games are not a great workout."

"I'm sorry."

"Eh, you're wearing a skirt, anyway." Calem shrugged as he steered the Mamoswine, trying to ignore how Serena once again held on to him. "Not good for climbing."

"No it isn't," Serena agreed, and he could hear the smile in her voice.

It was all he could do to keep his eyes on the road.

* * *

They ran into Sina as soon as they entered Anistar City. She wasn't carrying anything that could be useful to the professor, but she refused to give them too many important details about what mission Sycamore had sent her on.

"Research stuff," she said innocently. "I'm just following a lead about the legendary Pokémon that Professor Sycamore is trying to chase down. I just found some Repeat Balls that you might be able to use."

The concept of a Repeat Ball – the increased ability to capture a Pokémon you've already captured – was a good idea in theory. Unfortunately, Calem and Serena had no intention of catching more than one of each Pokémon they encountered.

Then again, most trainers made an exception for shinies and branched evolutions.

"Why not," Calem decided, and Sina handed each of them their prizes. "I'm guessing these won't be useful for Professor Sycamore to use to catch the legendary, anyway."

"Probably not," Sina agreed. She glanced behind her, as if looking for answers, but she decided to leave, waving goodbye as she ran off.

Serena watched her go, growing slowly more confused. "You don't think Professor Sycamore is trying to use his assistants to stop Lysandre, do you?"

"It wouldn't surprise me," Calem said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "We already know he's dressing them up in scarves and superhero masks to let them pretend they're saving the world."

"Yeah, but they showed up too late."

"Maybe they're doing ok in places we aren't involved in."

There was a moment of silence, and then they both broke into laughter. Serena's settled first, and she started forward. "Well, we've had our fun at their expense. Let's get some more fun in before we have to face Team Flare again. Why don't we have another battle in front of the Anistar Gym?" She grinned. "Of course, I'll be taking full advantage of the fact that Juliet can one-hit KO your Mega Pokémon."

"And I'll still beat you again," Calem announced.

"We'll see."

* * *

Calem had expected that Serena would lead with Juliet, and had sent out Pyroar in response. Serena had been sure that he would lead with Sylveon, and had sent Mawile out. That was her first mistake. Her second mistake was sending Vibrava to do the next job, as Eddie took him down in two Needle Arm attacks. Juliet won the round against Eddie, but Pyroar returned, and Crunch took down the Delphox once again.

So, when Serena was defeated, Sylveon standing over Pancham, she rested her head against the Gym wall, defeated. "Just once," she said quietly. "Just once, I'd like to beat you. Just to prove you are not the God of Pokémon Battles."

"Hey," Calem said, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. "Calling me a god is flattering, but it's wrong. I think 'prodigy' is the word you're looking for." He paused, considering. "Or maybe the word is 'natural.' Or 'supreme master.' Or…"

"Egomaniac?" Serena joked, her bitter smile still much more tolerable to look at than her childish, silent fury.

"Sure," Calem agreed, shrugging. "Just, whatever you call me, keep in mind that I am not all-powerful. I can't stand up against more than one Fire-type."

Serena made a soft humming sound as she considered the possibilities. Calem decided to cut her thoughts short before she made a big decision. "What do you say to some shopping?" he suggested, and just as he predicted, her eyes focused on him. "I need a coat in case we get called somewhere cold again, and you need waterproof shoes."

"But you took prize money from me," Serena pointed out. "Those are the League rules for challenging trainers."

"I'll pay for my own coat," Calem objected. "And half the price of your shoes."

"Do you really mean that?"

"Why not? You're a great sidekick, it's only right that I help you out when you need it."

Serena rolled her eyes at the word 'sidekick,' but kept her mouth shut. "Lead on, Leader," she said, wrapping her hand around his wrist. "Let's get going! To the Pokémon Center and beyond!"

* * *

Calem actually enjoyed the shopping part of their journey this time. He wasn't sure why, since Serena was the one who picked his new coat, but it might have been how happy she was with her new shoes (officially waterproof, she cleared that with the sales girl) and the fun she was having as she was picking out clothes for someone who wasn't herself.

Or it could have been that their Fairy-types were her current picking partners as she scanned the men's area for a decent coat.

"I guess the thing with Valerie is good for you, after all," he commented. "Even if you never beat me, or steal Sycamore away from Diantha, you still have a dream to chase."

Serena gave him an irritated look over the coat she'd found for him. "I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart, Calem. I could let you dress yourself here."

"At least I'd still be better dressed than Team Flare."

"Your Sylveon is better dressed than Team Flare," Serena pointed out, gesturing to the Pokémon in question. Sylveon smiled proudly and tapped the bow on her neck, as if she were adjusting a bow tie. "And she's naked," Serena finished, and Sylveon jumped back to her ball in embarrassment.

 **"Getting rid of her was that easy?"** Mawile tilted her head, looking at Calem in confusion. **"I _told_ Scizor that murder wasn't necessary!"**

But Calem didn't notice. Instead, he and Serena bought their stuff and started on their way to the Gym, where the next important battle waited.

* * *

The Gym was a building like they'd never seen before.

When they first entered, they found that it held a single room, and that the Gym Leader was nowhere in sight. Then, as soon as they stepped into the center of the rug, the walls melted away to show a very creative Gym puzzle. And, more importantly…

"Is the Gym _really_ bigger on the inside?" Serena gasped, eyes shining with a light that was usually triggered by pretty dresses and thoughts of world travel. "Does the Gym Leader really have Time Lord technology?"

"Maybe it's just an illusion," Calem suggested. "A strong enough Psychic-type could do it."

"It's so cool," Serena said, her voice weak.

It was, Calem had to agree. No matter what the source, an illusion or not, this was a Gym that he would be very willing to visit again.

The Gym Leader herself was nearly as impressive in appearance as her building. She stood with all the grace and power that one might expect from a queen, and she certainly dressed like a queen from an alien planet. She wore a cape that wouldn't be out of place in a sci-fi movie, and jewelry in the shape of stars.

"Welcome to my Gym," she said, and even her voice echoed slightly, as if part of the possible illusion that surrounded them. "My name is Olympia. You've come for the Badge?"

"I did," Calem confirmed. "And you use Psychic-type Pokémon, right?"

"Not much else can do this." She gestured around them, at the magnificent view that her Gym provided.

"Except a TARDIS," Serena added.

Olympia was not amused. "You're not the first to say so." Serena faked innocence. Olympia ignored her and focused only on Calem. "Shall we start the match?"

The woman was strange, Calem had to admit. Maybe she really was an alien. It wouldn't be the weirdest thing he'd encountered on this journey.

He picked a ball at random, and was pleased with the result. "Let's do it, Pyroar!"

* * *

Calem had defeated Olympia's Sigilyph with Pyroar's Crunch. Now the real fun could begin.

The Pokedex had reported that Sylveon was trying to learn Moonblast. Now it was time to test out the new move.

Sylveon was facing Olympia's Meowstic, an opponent that looked easy enough to beat. What was odd was that neither was particularly interested in the battle, Sylveon being too easily distracted by her surroundings and Meowstic too entertained by her opponent.

This did not mean that they weren't willing to listen to orders from their trainers.

Olympia called for a Psychic attack, and it hit Sylveon right in the face. Sylveon did not appear to be confused, which made Calem decide on his next move.

"Use Moonblast!" he commanded, and Sylveon even made a noise that sounded almost like an agreement. Calem and Serena watched in anticipation as she created a giant artificial moon…bigger and bigger…

…and, finally, so big that she lost control and dropped it on her own tail.

Sylveon screeched in pain, the sound making Meowstic flinch. Calem rolled his eyes and called her back.

"I guess she was confused, after all," he decided. He called her back and picked another ball. "Scizor, you're on!"

When Scizor appeared on the battlefield, he immediately knew exactly what was going on. He put all of his thoughts on Calem as he watched his trainer touch the stone on his Mega Ring.

"Scizor, Mega Evolve!"

Serena would later admit, to herself, that she had not expected it to work. Scizor could be a hard Pokémon to read – sometimes it looked like he genuinely cared about Calem, other times he seemed like just a jerk.

In the end, it must have been both. Scizor now looked more like a Transformer figure than the mantis of his first form, but the fact that his claws were now bigger than Pyroar's head was something he was definitely grateful for.

"Fury Cutter!" Calem ordered, and Meowstic went down in one hit. The Slowking that followed was even less of a challenge.

As Slowking fell and Olympia admitted defeat, Scizor returned to normal. And he wondered if Calem could tell that he was thinking about ways of making the transformation permanent.


	29. The Secret Laboratory

**The title of this chapter should be pronounced like on Dexter's Laboratory. That was a great show.**

Olympia handed Calem his badge as the Gym returned to the single room. "The Psychic Badge will grant you still more respect from traded Pokémon," she told him. "As well as putting you one step closer to the Pokémon League."

"I can always use more respect from Serena's Mawile," Calem said, faking innocence as his friend glared at him. "Thanks for the match, Olympia."

And they left, out to the Pokémon Center to heal his team and celebrate, with Serena and her own team as guests.

Of course, as the Pokémon were enjoying their Pokepuffs and the trainers were making plans to meet every time Serena returned from a new region, every Holo Caster in the Pokémon Center went off at the same time. Without giving them time to answer, Lysandre's face appeared on all of them.

"Pokémon Trainers," he said, getting the attention of the freed Pokémon as well, Calem's and Serena's in particular. "I come to you by Holo Caster to bring you an important message. Unproductive fools are consuming our resources without giving anything back. Team Flare will put a stop to that by activating the Ultimate Weapon and eliminating everyone who is not in our group. So, I regret to say, this is adieu to you all." There was a pause. "And, Augustine and Diantha, if you still choose not to join me, I suggest you spend your last few hours together. Trying to stop me would take up so much valuable time that you could be using to do couple stuff."

"Stop shipping real people!" a voice snapped from offscreen, but Lysandre ignored it.

"That goes for everyone, really. Eat, drink and be merry. Tell your sweetheart you love them. Live the rest of your lives to the fullest…because you have less than twenty-four hours."

And he switched it off.

The entire Pokémon Center erupted into a panic, except for Calem and Serena, who were more annoyed than scared, and their Pokémon, who immediately formed a huddle.

 **"So what do we do?"** Pumpkaboo asked. Being new to the team, she and Phantump were closer to being scared than the rest, but the reactions of their trainers and teammates kept them from panic.

 **"Calem and Serena stopped the rest of Team Flare,"** Pancham reassured her. **"They can handle Lysandre."**

 **"But where could their hideout be?"** Juliet looked to Eddie for answers, but Eddie was still deep in thought. **"We have the entire Kalos region to think about. They could be anywhere."**

 **"No."** Sylveon sounded more sure of herself than she ever had before, and her usually vacant eyes had a surprising amount of focus. **"Lysandre has a café, right? Why spend all that time and money looking for a new secret la-bore-a-tory when you could just build a secret lair right into a café you already own? Besides, in Lumiose City, even Team Flare would be just a drop of suspicion in an ocean of bad decisions."**

Every jaw dropped, including both of Mawile's.

 **"That,"** said Pyroar once he'd found his voice, **"is actually a very good theory."**

 **"Better than good."** Even Scizor was impressed, and that was saying something. **"That was…I don't want to say it…genius."**

Mawile threw her hands up in the air. **"And we have a hard time convincing her that Bruce Wayne is Batman!"** She sounded more annoyed than surprised, though, which certainly surprised Eddie.

 **"So** **how do we tell _them_ that idea?" ** Eddie gestured back at the trainers, who seemed to be struggling to find the solution themselves. Overthinking it like the rest of them, he was sure.

Sylveon moved under a table and stood on her back legs, eyes on the bottom of the table. **"I found some gum,"** she said, back to her usual amount of focus. **"Maybe I can chew them a map."**

 **"You do that,"** Scizor said, pleased that everything was as he remembered. **"We'll be thinking of a better plan."**

 **"I can draw,"** Pancham said helpfully.

 **"I know how to write a few human words,"** Phantump added.

 **"I can scream to get their attention,"** said Pumpkaboo.

Phantump clapped in excitement. **"Even better!"**

 **"How about you don't and say you did,"** Eddie said, and Mawile nodded hard, eyes wide in terror.

There was a loud explosion from Sylveon's general area. She had somehow managed to put a Moonblast _inside_ the table-gum, which had made not only the gum but the entire wooden table explode. Shards rained down, and Phantump seized the opportunity, grabbing several out of the air and arranging them on the floor. He had no idea how to spell Lysandre's name, but he knew enough to get the message across.

C-A-F-E.

Serena watched him work, and stared at the word as Calem scolded his Pokémon, and grabbed his sleeve to drag him over. "I think they figured it out."

Calem stopped mid-rant, and looked over at the proud Phantump and happy Sylveon. "Good job, guys," he said, pretty impressed himself. "Now get in your balls, all of you. We're the only ones who can take this guy down. We need to work together."

He and Serena collected their partners and ran out of the Pokémon Center. The nurse, who had looked up at the explosion, opened her mouth to tell them that they owed her a table.

But, she decided, it didn't really matter. Not now.

* * *

Diantha had gotten the message, and had long ago decided that since it was her friend, it was her duty to stop him whenever he got an idea.

Most ideas weren't anywhere close to 'mass murder,' though. Most ideas were closer to 'this guy cut me off in traffic, I'll put a voodoo curse on him.' Still a horrible idea, but not anywhere close to this.

She had nearly reached the door when Malva stepped out of hiding, her female Pyroar by her side. "Going somewhere, Diantha?"

"You heard the message," Diantha pointed out. Malva smirked, and realization hit Diantha hard. "You were in on it, weren't you?"

"Perceptive," Malva said sarcastically. "Honestly, Diantha, did I really fool you? I dressed in nothing but red and black from the day we met! Those are the most evil colors known to man! How did you _not_ know that I was in on your friend's destructive plans?"

"Well, for one," Diantha said, her voice surprisingly strong despite the situation, "I didn't know he _had_ destructive plans he actually wanted to go through with. And as for your outfit...I just thought that was a goth thing."

"I ranted about the state of the world! At length! All the time!"

"I thought that was a Malva thing."

Malva blinked, wondering how a woman who had been so highly praised by Lysandre could have missed this plot twist. "Then you truly don't deserve your position," she said coldly, and Diantha straightened up, determination in her eyes. "I should take it from you here. After all, once that weapon goes off, I'll be the strongest trainer in Kalos."

"Try me," Diantha said through her teeth, and sent out her first Pokémon just in time to avoid getting hit with a stream of Pyroar's fire herself.

It took longer than Diantha would have liked. But, once the battle ended, she shoved Malva aside as she made her way toward the door, her Gardevoir following to make sure that Malva stayed behind.

Once she was safely outside, Diantha sent out her Hawlucha. "Warn the others," she instructed. "Keep Malva on lockdown. And begin searching for her replacement immediately."

She hated leaving her Pokémon unattended like this, but she'd heard Lysandre's message loud and clear. Augustine wasn't a strong trainer, and preferred misdirection and sabotage to keep Lysandre in line. This was beyond his capabilities.

Unfortunately, she and her dear professor knew nothing about what Lysandre planned other than that it involved destruction, a weapon, and a very tall man...

* * *

"Where is the secret entrance to Lysandre's hideout?"

Calem had never felt more like a superhero before – demanding the location of a delusional mastermind, while holding one of the mastermind's minions by the front of the shirt, would do that to a person. And, just like in a superhero cartoon, the waiter to Lysandre's café just laughed.

"I know you think you can stop us just because you're a Pokedex carrier," he said, and Calem nearly slammed his head against the counter. "But did you ever think that Professor Sycamore gave you those devices to keep you out of things? He and Lysandre are friends, after all. Did you think he wasn't in on it?"

"He can't be," Calem stated, throwing the waiter to the ground. "This whole journey was too much like a video game. The one who sends the protagonist out on his or her quest – Doug Rattmann, Ignitus, Princess Zelda – they hardly ever turn out to be evil. Self-serving, maybe, but almost never evil."

"But some of them have," the waiter pointed out.

"Not Sycamore," Calem said. "He's not cool enough to be the evil mentor."

Serena suddenly groaned, and Calem looked over to where she was standing by the back wall with her Delphox. Juliet was holding her torch dangerously close to the waitress's face, but Serena herself was mid-facepalm.

"I think you two just helped me get over the professor," she said bitterly. "I imagined him in the Team Flare uniform."

Calem blinked, and for the brief moment that his eyes were closed, he saw it himself. "Thank you, Serena," he said sarcastically. "I will never unsee that now."

"The worst part is, he can almost pull it off."

"Leave the uniforms out of this!" the waitress snapped, suddenly ignoring the very angry Delphox with the very real fire. "The secret door only opens to a password! Only Team Flare can access it!"

"So it shouldn't be hard to guess," Calem decided. He cleared his throat, and prepared himself for the biggest lie of his life: "The Team Flare uniforms are stylish and not an eyesore at all."

Nothing happened. The two Flare operatives laughed.

"How much faith do you have in us?" the man asked.

Serena was unimpressed. "Open sesame," she said, voice flat, and was barely surprised when the secret door behind the tea shelf slid right open.

Calem was not surprised at all. "Yeah, that pretty much covers it." And he and Serena walked right through the hole in the wall. Juliet was right behind them, making an 'I'm watching you' gesture as she left. The two Flare agents didn't even try to follow.

Lysandre was waiting right on the other side.

"I thought you would come." He focused on Calem, clearly considering him better than Serena for no reason other than the Mega Ring. "The world is coming to an end. Only the chosen ones will obtain a ticket to tomorrow."

"Not if I stop you." Calem pulled out Eddie's ball, but Lysandre didn't move. "What are you waiting for? I challenge you to a battle!"

"I don't waste my time on newcomers. I am not the Champion."

"I have seven badges!"

"And I have years of experience, an ancient weapon, and an army. I think it would be much easier if I simply allowed you to die with your pride intact." Calem prepared to throw the ball anyway, but Lysandre turned away. "If you still believe you are capable of stopping me, you should explore the lab. But if you lose just one battle, you will be evicted."

"This isn't a game, Lysandre!"

There was no taunt at all in Lysandre's reply: "Didn't you just make a comparison to video games yourself? And declaring yourself and your friend the protagonists…don't you find that to be a bit arrogant?"

He didn't let Calem answer. Instead, he moved to leave.

"Your first step is to find the elevator key. One of my scientists has it. Take the elevator, and you will reach Level 2."

And with that, he left them alone, with no map or cheat codes to help navigate his lair.

* * *

A puzzle, two grunts and a rematch with Scientist Aliana later, Calem and Serena found a room filled with computer stuff…and two people in familiar masks and scarves.

"He's not here, either."

"Do you think they got to him?"

"You're talking about Lysandre, right?" Calem asked, and both heads turned.

"Close," Dexio finally said. "We're looking for a very tall man. Two or three times the height of you, in fact." He turned to Sina in confusion. " _Can_ we use this boy as a unit of measurement?"

"I don't see why not," Sina said, but she didn't look away.

"He's about two Calems tall," Dexio finished. "Have you seen him?"

"Not since the desert." Serena was thinking hard. "Why didn't you get him there?"

"He must have escaped our notice," Sina said, without bothering to listen to herself.

Calem and Serena stopped thinking for a moment. "He escaped your notice?" Serena repeated. "A dirty hobo that is two Calems tall _escaped your notice_ in the middle of a nearly-empty _desert_? How is that even possible?"

"It can be!" Sina shook her head and handed each of them a handful of Revives. "Well, if you're going to join us, you should at least take these. Our supplier gave us too many."

"There's really no such thing as too many," Calem tried to point out, but they were already gone.

Serena waited until they were out of earshot, and then gestured helplessly. "Sycamore sent _them_ to stop Lysandre?"

"Maybe he is involved with this, after all." It felt wrong for Calem to say it. No matter how jealous he was of the professor's title and good looks, he knew Sycamore would have turned down Team Flare's invitation.

"Wrong," Serena said, quiet but determined. "Lysandre specifically said 'Augustine and Diantha.' How many people with those names would Lysandre know well enough to ship?"

Well, that settled any doubt in Calem's mind. He didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed, but he was pointing more toward relief.

"Well, either way, they're useless. We've got a madman to stop. Let's get to work."


	30. Tale of the Dirty Hobo

**AZ never thought to keep his brother's descendants in line, did he?**

The next pair of scientists were not the ones with the elevator key, but they did have some information that they were all too happy to gloat about once Calem and Serena defeated them in battle again. They were convinced that there was no way that two kids from a nowhere town could stand a chance against the Ultimate Weapon.

"We stole the energy from the Power Plant to charge the Weapon," said one scientist, who had insisted that she be addressed as Bryony. "But we didn't get enough, thanks to your interference. So we'll use energy from Pokémon we caught for this purpose to finish the job!"

"The stones on Route 10 are perfect for the job," said the other scientist, who had introduced herself as Celosia. "Of course, they're actually Pokémon gravestones…you did know that, didn't you?"

"I did wonder why we didn't have a Pokémon Tower equivalent this region," Calem said, thinking it over. "But the last time some guy messed with those stones to create an artificial Excadrillite, his mission failed. What makes you so sure that you'll succeed?"

"Because we're repeating history, duh." They could almost hear Bryony roll her eyes. "That man was trying to tap into forces he didn't understand. We've done our research thoroughly."

"The stones mark the graves of the Pokémon used to end the Great War," Celosia pointed out. "They've done it once, I'm sure they can do it again."

"So the Ultimate Weapon is in or near Geosenge Town," Serena declared. When the scientists looked at her, alarmed that their plan had been discovered, Serena shrugged. "There had to be something in that town, right? No Gym, only a few shops, not even that many houses…if it wasn't a ghost town, something had to be there."

The scientist pair immediately (finally, in Calem's opinion) stopped talking. "We don't have the key," Celosia told them. "Go find someone else."

* * *

By the time Calem and Serena found the last scientist, Mable, she was studying something that was probably important but too difficult for them to read. Mable tried to taunt them, but they didn't listen to a word she said. Calem just challenged her to a battle and won the elevator key from her.

"She wasn't talking," Calem said, though Mable had spent the entire battle ranting about Team Flare's motivations. "But we got to Level 2. Level 4 probably has Lysandre, so Level 3 most likely has the giant hobo."

"This isn't a game," Serena reminded him.

"I'm just trying to cope," Calem said, offended. "I have the lives of everyone on earth in my hands. The least I can do is pretend I'm Link."

Serena went silent. "You might want to change it to Sonic," she decided, not questioning his methods any more. "We need to _run._ "

Calem didn't even bother talking. Instead, he took Serena by the hand and started humming a Sonic theme song as they ran through the halls as fast as they could go.

The elevator was too slow, but by the time they reached the bottom, they found exactly what they were looking for.

The caged hobo found them, too, though Lysandre still didn't notice them. "So," he said, almost in a monotone, "you're the ones who are going to face Lysandre."

"We kind of have to." Serena shrugged like it didn't bother her, but Calem knew her well enough to not be fooled.

Lysandre made an irritated sound, but didn't so much as look at them. The tall man ignored it all and started speaking. "Then listen. A terribly long time ago, a man lived with his Pokémon. When the war began, the Pokémon went off to fight. The man told her not to be stupid, that she was not meant for such a large battlefield, but she left anyway. She returned in a box."

There was a moment of silence as the man paused, shaking a bit as if the death of an ancient Pokémon was still hurting him to this day.

"That's…surprisingly dark," Calem decided.

"It gets worse," the hobo promised. "The man wanted to bring his friend back to life, no matter what it took. He combined magic and mad science to create a machine capable of restoring life, not simply raising zombies like kids are into these days. And it worked…mostly. She was restored to her full glory, but had developed an interest in the most unusual things."

"Did she eat brains?" Serena asked, genuinely curious.

"No. She simply developed a love of shoes."

Another pause.

"That's still not the strangest thing I've heard on this journey," Calem said after a moment. "So what happened when the guy raised the Pokémon from the dead?"

"The world had hurt his Pokémon. He decided to hurt the world. He turned the machine into the ultimate weapon, and ended the war single-handedly, but not without cost. Pokémon and people died, and his tiny friend left him forever."

"This is all touching," Lysandre said, "and an excellent distraction that keeps the kids out of my plans. But it's starting to get boring, AZ. You'd think after all this time you'd be a better storyteller."

The man's single visible eye flicked between Calem and Serena. "Get the key," he instructed, still not paying any attention to Lysandre. "If he uses the weapon, the entire world will be destroyed."

"Enough!" Lysandre dodged as Calem made a grab for the key he held in his hand, focused only on his prisoner. "You have the same name as the ancient king. You had the key to the weapon. If you couldn't stop me, why do you assume that they can?"

"Because they're better than I am," AZ answered at once.

"You barely know them!"

"I know that they have not made my mistakes," AZ pointed out, "and as a result, can prevent you from making yours."

Lysandre almost reconsidered. But he moved toward the exit, still holding the key. "It's too late for that," he said, and was gone before either hero could stop him.

Serena recovered first. "We'll be back for you," she promised AZ. "Saving the world is more important than freeing you at the moment, but we'll be back."

"There's no need." He turned to the wall. "The key to the cell is in my reach. Toss it over to me and I'll get myself out."

Team Flare really was dumb.

* * *

Trevor didn't know why Shauna believed that Calem and Serena were getting involved with Lysandre's plot. They didn't know where Lysandre's hideout would be, and in fact had only bumped into each other out of sheer coincidence – they were both heading to Lumiose City to ask Professor Sycamore what they should do about it.

Sycamore himself was pacing his office, Diantha nowhere in sight despite Lysandre suggesting that they spend the rest of their lives together. He looked up as they entered, but when he only counted two heads, he went right back to his frantic pacing, talking to himself.

"Don't worry, Professor," Shauna said, trying to force a smile and coming just short. "You picked Pokedex carriers. He'll be stopped."

"I didn't want all of you to be caught up in a Team Something plot," Sycamore finally said, sitting back in his chair to hold his head in his hands. "I thought Lysandre's overreactions were able to be restrained. If I'd known the extent of his plans…"

"He didn't tell me about his part in Team Flare, either," Diantha's voice said from the doorway. Sycamore all but jumped back to his feet, crossing the room quickly to reach her. She seized his hand to calm him, but focused only on the kids. "Weren't there five of you?"

"Tierno's on his way," Shauna promised, "and I have good reason to believe that Calem and Serena are trying to take Lysandre down as we speak."

Sycamore's panic started up again. "They're what?"

"Hey," Trevor said, somehow managing to fake calm. "If anyone can put a stop to Team Flare, it's Calem and Serena. They're capable of handling Lysandre if they work together, and they've got at least thirty IQ points over everyone else there."

Shauna's smile turned real, but the adults were not as convinced. They didn't say a word, trying not to crush their hope, but their anger at their friend and next to no knowledge of his plan kept them from helping out.

Finally, Sycamore decided to speak. "The Defenders of Kalos are gathering information," he said, and Diantha lifted her stare from the ground to his face. "I had to send them. He would be expecting you, Diantha, you've beaten sense into him before. I wanted to know what we were up against…and, until now, I didn't know the extent of Team Flare's ambition. I didn't want to put anyone in danger until we were sure about it, and now I've endangered every human on the planet, and who knows what they have planned for the Pokémon?"

Diantha sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Augustine, you beautiful idiot. It's what we do."

"I know," he promised. "I was blind, I suppose."

"And you're not the only one." Diantha's fist clenched. "I had another one right under my nose this whole time. Malva ambushed me on my way over here, and taunted me about…everything. They've even used Holo Casters to spy on people, did you know that?"

"They what?" a new voice said. Tierno had arrived in one piece, after all.

They immediately summarized the previous conversation, and all of them made a decision to help Calem and Serena as soon as Lysandre made his next move.

It was time for _them_ to become the Defenders of Kalos.

* * *

After leaving AZ behind, Calem and Serena almost instantly saw the leader of Team Flare talking to a man that they had never seen before. Still, they knew that he was a scientist and not a grunt – he didn't wear the uniform. As for his personal appearance…

"Eggman, you shaved!"

Calem's declaration, and Serena's entirely inappropriate giggle fit, diverted the attention of both men to the teenage intruders. The round man did not look amused at the comparison, but Lysandre stopped him before he could make a point.

"Ignore them, Xerosic," he instructed. "They are no stronger than our grunts. They triumphed in a few battles on luck alone."

"A few, he says," Calem grumped. "We've trashed every grunt, admin, and scientist we've encountered."

Neither of the men listened. Instead, Lysandre turned to Calem. "Being a Chosen One gives you the power to change the world. I had hoped that you would use that power responsibly. I see now that I was wrong."

He left once more, and Xerosic was left alone with the kids.

"Not a threat, he says. I've heard enough about the two of you to know better." He didn't seem angry, though, not even about the Eggman joke. In fact, he seemed excited. "I would like to see your skills for myself. I have two Pokémon, so I suggest a double battle."

He wasn't going to let them go forward until they'd agreed. So, seeing no other choice, Calem called out Pyroar and Serena called on Vibrava. Once Xerosic had sent out his Crobat and Malamar, they were very glad not to have a type advantage anywhere.

The battle didn't last long. Calem and Serena had been in enough double battles that they knew the other's style, and traveling for so long meant that they also knew each other's teams. Vibrava reaching his final stage didn't do anything to hurt them, either.

Xerosic seemed pleased. "I'd like to congratulate you on your battle," he said. "Truly, you made it this far on skill, not luck. So, I would like to reward you." He turned to the buttons behind him. "One of these buttons will release the Ultimate Weapon. The other is useless. You may decide which one to push together, but the girl gets to do the honors. An extra congratulations on her new Flygon."

Flygon snapped at him. Pyroar nodded in approval. Their trainers, meanwhile, began the discussion.

"It's the red one," Calem said. He was sure about it. "It has to be."

"But how do you know?"

"Because, again, this is just like a video game. Bad guys always use big _red_ buttons. Big blue buttons are almost unheard of."

"But this _isn't a game."_

"Come on, Rini. I know what I'm doing."

"Do you, Calem?"

"Serena, trust me."

Serena paused, studying his face closely. Reality was not a video game, but the use of her real name and not her nickname, paired with the seriousness in his eyes, told her to give it a chance. "If we die because of this," she finally said, "I will kill you, Xavier."

Calem held his breath as she walked to the blue button. He'd been sure when he sent her, but Xerosic's smug smile seemed to get even more excited the closer she got. Serena reached the blue button, cast one last questioning look at the red one, and pressed the blue one.

There was suddenly the sound of static from a screen that they hadn't seen before.

"Well done," Xerosic commented. "You successfully chose the button that would not bring out the weapon."

Calem let out his held breath, and gave Serena a smug glance. Serena rolled her eyes, but smiled a little.

And then the screen flashed to a picture of Geosenge Town as the Ultimate Weapon revealed itself, and people ran screaming from houses moments before said houses collapsed.

"But," Xerosic said, oblivious to the horrified stares from the heroes, "I had a second red button all along."

There was a moment of dead silence.

And then Serena let out a furious scream and punched the scientist in the face.


	31. The Bird

**In which the authors changed a few things from the source material. I promise we'll get back to the usual pattern by the time Calem reaches Wulfric.**

The shock of the event wore off immediately, as it was Serena who hopped back from the contact, shaking her hand to make sure she hadn't broken a knuckle or something, while Xerosic stood there with a disbelieving look, as if wondering exactly where the strong trainer he'd just battled had disappeared to.

Calem seized Serena's hand to get her to stop flapping it. "Do you need a hospital?" he asked her, pointedly ignoring both Xerosic and the weapon he had summoned.

Serena flexed each finger individually, then shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"Good." He finally turned back to Xerosic. "If I had a shotgun, you'd pay."

Xerosic dared to laugh. "Do you know how to work a shotgun, boy?"

"No, but you'd be great practice."

"Leave it, Calem." Serena pulled her hand from her friend's grip and tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear. "We'll head to Geosenge Town ourselves. If Lysandre's there already, it's the only way we can stop his evil plan." She glanced at Xerosic. "And then we'll lock this guy up in AZ's cell."

"Cool with me," Calem agreed, and followed her through the secret lair all the way back to the Pokémon Center.

Serena called her mom immediately, and the woman immediately launched into the typical worried parent monologue. Calem would have thought that someone who at least made it to the Champion match would have understood the dangers of a Pokémon journey, but maybe Serena's parents were normal strong trainers who had never encountered a Team.

Or maybe he just didn't understand parents.

"Mom, we need a Flying-type." Serena had gotten her mom to calm down, it seemed. "We're still in Lumiose City."

"And you're coming home?"

"Sure," Serena said, in the same placating tone she used on Calem all the time.

Her mom saw through it, and seemed to know that there was no fighting this time. "You two will be careful when you're out saving the world, won't you?"

"When have I ever not been careful? When it's important."

Serena's mom sent over a Talonflame and a Pidgeot, the go-to transportation Pokémon for the family, and then they were gone, off to Geosenge Town and, hopefully, the off switch to Lysandre's weapon.

* * *

When the Pokedex carriers landed in Geosenge Town, a Team Flare grunt immediately cornered them. Unfortunately, these were Pokémon that Serena had practiced with since she started school, and the one that had tried to chase them out was immediately rewarded with Talonflame's Flame Charge on his own body.

"Wasn't that illegal?" Calem challenged.

Serena shrugged. "He and his friends are trying to end the world. Does he deserve our pity?"

"That's not what I was implying," Calem pointed out, but kept his mouth shut after that.

They walked into the Pokémon Center in silence, surprising the local nurse. They walked right back to the trade machine to send the Fly users back to Serena's mom. But once her mother had asked if they'd gotten out, Serena just said that they were "being blocked" and would try to stay safe.

"Parents," she said when she'd hung up. "Why are they always worried?"

Calem didn't answer. He hadn't even talked to Grace since Lysandre's message. Then again, she didn't have a Holo Caster, preferring to use a regular cell phone when dealing with important calls. There was a good chance that she didn't know that her son was directly involved.

Of course, she knew her son was a Pokedex carrier, and must have seen a report on the news about the giant crystal flower that trashed most of Geosenge Town. It wouldn't really take long for her to put the pieces together.

He pushed it out of his head. "I was thinking," he said instead, "we could do a trade here to get Phantump and Pumpkaboo to evolve. A Trevenant and Gourgeist would be a better choice to use against Lysandre, right?"

"I don't think we have time." Serena did look pointedly at the trading machine, but turned to go immediately. "We have to find the entrance to their secret base first, remember? We don't have any idea where it is."

His plans destroyed, but with no real reason to disagree with her, Calem followed her back outside.

* * *

It wasn't hard to find the entrance. It was even easier to get inside, once they used Juliet to threaten to light the guard grunt's precious uniform on fire.

"Do it anyway," Serena hissed as her Delphox led the way to the stone building.

"Later," Calem added, his own volume matching Serena's, and Juliet lowered her torch in disappointment.

They entered the building and took a small elevator down, where they found Lysandre once more, looking out at his work.

"The Ultimate Weapon has finally bloomed," he said, once he saw their reflections in the window. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"I almost took a picture," Serena replied, but it was hard for Calem to tell if it was sarcasm or agreement. "But we're not going to let you use it."

"And how do you suppose we deal with the problem of our limited resources?" Lysandre demanded. "The number of people and Pokémon has already increased to an unsustainable level. Do you expect us to sit and use up all we have?"

"No," Serena said bluntly. When Lysandre looked pleased, she made her own point known. "I expect science to continue to find ways to help make what we need last. Farmers to find better ways to grow things, stuff like that. I believe in a Jetsons-like future, Lysandre."

"I can tell," Lysandre said, "but I do not. You are young, barely out of your parents' house. You have not seen what people are capable of if they let their greed get the better of them."

"Maybe not. But I'm definitely getting a good look at what would happen when someone lets their anger get the better of him."

Lysandre ignored the comment. "Did you share the Mega Ring?" he asked, thinking he had a point.

"No," Calem answered for her, touching his Key Stone self-consciously. "We had a battle for it and I won…"

"And I didn't have a Mega Stone for it," Serena finished. "I still don't."

"Then you are lucky to have settled things so peacefully." Lysandre took a step closer, but stopped himself from going any further. "There is too little to be shared by everyone. The only solution is to reduce the number of living things."

"You're becoming the very monster you're destroying!" Calem snapped. "And what about Pokémon? What will happen to them in this world of yours?"

That question broke through Lysandre's hatred-induced haze, and it took him a few seconds to find the words. "Pokémon are wonderful beings. Humans and Pokémon have helped each other for a long time. But they are already being used as tools, and such behavior will only continue. They don't deserve such a fate. That is why Pokémon will no longer exist in my world." He turned away, his fists clenched, and Calem thought he saw an almost-tear in his eye. But then he turned back, and it was gone.

Serena didn't let it drop. "So you're saving the Pokémon...by killing the Pokémon."

"Shut up, I'm a genius!" Both kids facepalmed, and Lysandre gave up on explaining himself. "You want to stop the Ultimate Weapon," he said, changing the subject on them. "I refuse to stop it. If you truly think that your life is like a video game, boy, I suggest you stop it yourself. After all, if I'm the villain, I'm sure the hero and his sidekick are guaranteed victory."

He was mocking him. That much anyone could see. But Calem didn't say a word as he watched Lysandre move past them, and promised himself that he would stop it.

For his Pokémon, and for Serena and hers.

* * *

They rushed down the stairs to the lower floor, and were almost immediately cornered by a grunt and an admin. This was not a surprise, but it was definitely an annoyance.

"We don't have time for this!" Calem snapped. "Your boss gave us permission! Let us through!"

"He clearly thinks that battling you would just be wasting your time," said the admin. "But we're the guards for the legendary Pokémon. No one gets to see it without getting through us, Lysandre's permission or not."

Calem went to move past them, but Serena managed to restrain him. The look on her face said it all. "They want to battle," she pointed out. "Let's give them what they want."

And once Eddie and Flygon were safely back in their balls, leaving behind two very messed-up guards, Calem and Serena moved forward. The next pair of 'guards' were handled in similar styles.

"Calem! Serena! Wait for us!"

Shauna's voice was not one that they had expected to hear. They were even more surprised when they saw that she was in the lead of an entire group of people that they had not expected to see. There was Trevor, who was usually more interested in Pokedex information and his photography than battles, and Tierno, who was often preoccupied with his choreography. That, they would have admitted they should have seen coming, but bringing up the last of the group were Diantha and Professor Sycamore, who had come to prove that not all adults were useless, after all.

"I'm sorry," Shauna said, "but I just needed to tell everyone that I thought you were involved. Then, once we decided we were going to chase you down, the professor and Diantha decided to come too because Lysandre was their friend and they figured that they wanted to talk some sense into him, and…"

"So you all decided to show up to put yourselves in the middle of the conflict," Calem said, and the three other Pokedex carriers all shared a look.

"Uh…yeah, that sounds about right." Tierno grinned.

"We're here for backup," Trevor said.

"We won't slow you down, will we?" Shauna finished.

Calem and Serena shared a look. "Well, why not," Serena finally decided. "If it comes down to it, we can use the adults as distractions."

"They are the only ones who know how Lysandre's brain works," Calem agreed.

"I wouldn't say that much," Sycamore protested, but the kids were already on their way, and Diantha right behind them.

And, when the third pair of guards showed up, the adults proved to be good distractions, after all. Sycamore managed to taunt the guards into not picking on the children, and as the five Pokedex carriers moved forward to the door with the electric lock, they heard the sounds of Sycamore's Charizard and Diantha's Gardevoir tossing their opponents around like toys.

The kids had their own problems.

"What do we do about the lock?" Serena asked. "Do we know Lysandre's password? Can it be guessed?"

Calem squinted at the lock, then typed in 1-2-3-4. When the door refused to open, he shrugged and stepped back.

"Well, we know that's the door to the legendary. He clearly doesn't want his grunts to get in."

But Shauna was excited, and Trevor and Tierno wisely stepped back as she pulled a device from her bag. "Clemont came through again," she said with a laugh. "My mom said I wouldn't need a hacking device, that I'm smart enough to know the consequences, but HE didn't laugh at me." She attached the device to the lock, and within three seconds, both the lock and the device fell apart. She smiled and took a bow in Calem and Serena's direction. "After you."

They simultaneously decided that it was a good thing Shauna was on their side.

* * *

When they had all walked through the door, it seemed as if it was too late.

On one side of the room, there was a large black cocoon. On the other, a leafless tree. Neither looked like a legendary Pokémon, or even like they were alive.

But they didn't have time to think about that, as they were suddenly ambushed by five admins at once. Calem had to congratulate the professor and Diantha – while he was sure that the Pokedex carriers could have taken their opponents as well, he was also sure it would take more time than absolutely necessary.

But, with each of them taking an opponent (Shauna having declared it too important for her "I hate being chased" bit, unfortunately) the admins all ran to alert Lysandre, stupidly leaving only one of them to supervise the intruders.

"Do you really think you can get away with this?" the admin hissed. "They have no energy left! It all went to powering the machine!"

Shauna was not amused, and turned to the full-grown Greninja at her side. "Shut him up," she commanded.

Nya immediately tossed the last admin through the door, and turned to her trainer. There was no change in her expression, but they all could see how pleased with herself she really was.

Calem barely paid attention. He was slowly getting closer to the cocoon, trying to see if he'd heard of any myths surrounding a Pokémon that could take the form of a cocoon this large…

And then the cocoon hatched.

Calem took a step back, and all of his friends were frozen in place. The wings spread out, revealing a bird barely shorter than AZ, and almost entirely red and black. The bird took a deep breath…

"Maaw-haaw!"

There was no way that _this_ Pokémon was named after the sound it made. Not if that was the only option.

The bird stepped closer to Calem, its tail dragging on the ground, and lowered its face to him. Then it made that annoying sound again, and Calem got the feeling that it wanted to battle.

But the second he took to scan it with his Pokedex was a second wasted, and before he could send out Pyroar to fight Yveltal, Lysandre arrived. And on his back was one of the most ridiculous yet awesome devices Calem had ever seen.

Still, he felt himself swallow hard. "I wish I had that shotgun now," he managed to say.

Serena was having a much better time speaking than Calem was. "How did you get past Sycamore and Diantha?"

"I sent every grunt and admin in the base on them as a distraction. They won't buy me much time, but that doesn't matter. I only need to win once." He glared at Calem. "Now. Step away from the tree."

"Maaw-haaw!" Yveltal shrieked at him, fury burning in its cold blue eyes.

Lysandre looked up at the legendary Pokémon for only a moment before switching back to Calem. "And give me the bird."

He should have chosen his words better.


	32. Saving Kalos

**WARNING: We were going to end the Team Flare plotline like in the games, but then we wrote a joke that changed the course of our story entirely. As a result, this chapter contains extreme game-canon violations, rants about ship-babies, and a speech that ends up quoting the Heathers musical.**

The second thing Calem did after Lysandre's command was throw his Master Ball at Yveltal. He would have taken his time to battle with it and do things the 'proper' way, but time was short and he needed a guaranteed capture.

Fortunately, Yveltal wasn't paying attention to Calem, and hadn't officially declared battle with either trainer. He saw the bird's head turn just slightly, and the beak opened to make a call, but the Master Ball opened and Yveltal disappeared inside almost immediately. Shake…shake…click.

But before he could pick up his new legendary bird, Lysandre snatched it from the ground with the claw on his back.

"Thank you, Calem." Lysandre sounded genuine this time, which was almost scary. "Perhaps with a power limiter such as a capture device, it won't break free again."

"That was _my_ Master Ball!" Calem snapped. "It's my legendary, and I won't let you take it away from me!"

"I doubt Yveltal even knows what happened," Lysandre pointed out, "but I suppose we could battle for it."

"I refuse to use Yveltal as a prize," Calem insisted. "We won't battle for the bird, we'll battle for the sake of the world!"

Lysandre looked over at the still-unconscious tree form of the second legendary, and decided that the power of the weapon was strong enough to take out at least Kalos with just the one Pokémon. "I suppose we can," he decided. "But Yveltal is off-limits. We have to make this fair."

And Lysandre immediately sent out his Pyroar.

Calem really should have seen that coming, but at least Sylveon wasn't weak to fire. She could do it.

* * *

Things went about as well as Calem expected.

Sylveon put up a fight, but Lysandre's Pyroar was stronger. Calem's Pyroar was almost equal, but Lysandre's defeated him, too, before Calem, in a desperate attempt to keep fighting, sent out Phantump, who managed to defeat Pyroar with the use of Destiny Bond, taking himself out of the battle in the process.

He gave a Revive to Sylveon to face the Mienshao, but that gave Mienshao time to take out Scizor, and it survived a Moonblast to take Sylveon out of battle once again.

Eddie was a much different story. Eddie took on Mienshao and the Gyarados, all by himself, and was doing a great job until the Gyarados was replaced with a Honchkrow.

Once Eddie, and Calem, were defeated, Lysandre lifted the Master Ball, and looked at it in distaste. "And to think that you, of all people, could find and use a Master Ball. It just goes to show what the world has come to."

Calem couldn't force himself to speak. What was the point? He'd lost the battle, lost Yveltal, lost his entire view on life...

He'd lost the whole world.

But he was not alone in his adventures, and before anyone knew what was happening, Serena had rushed at Lysandre and attempted to yank the Master Ball from his hand.

"Give Calem a second chance!" she demanded, and when Lysandre kept her an arm's length away, she ducked out of his grasp and reached for Yveltal again.

Lysandre still refused to give it back. "Your friend knew what he was getting into. You've lost this war, and you can't stop me."

"Then prove it." Serena had stopped attempting to get the legendary back, but she had maneuvered herself to a place where he couldn't take a step closer to Yveltal's former prison without having to forcibly push her out of the way. "Fight me!"

"You have nothing to prove. You have no Key Stone, no gym badges, no legendary…"

He'd picked the wrong thing to say, because it took Serena all of five steps to walk to the tree and flip the switch draining its power. The result took only an instant, and soon enough, the big blue deer was standing behind her, both of them with a very clear "What are you gonna do about it?" expression.

Lysandre almost groaned in exasperation, but put the ball down. "Very well," he said slowly. "If you believe you are capable of defeating me, you will not need the power of Xerneas to do so. Should you win, I will return Yveltal to your friend."

Serena noted that he never promised anyone that he'd call off the weapon. But she didn't have time to think about it, as Lysandre had started to heal his fallen Pokémon. "What are you doing?"

"I'm healing my team after facing your friend, of course. I need to make this fight fair."

"But I don't want a fair fight! I want a fight I can win!"

Xerneas gently pushed her forward with its nose. **"Kick his butt,"** it said simply. **"I've got your back."**

As Lysandre opened with Pyroar once again, Serena said a quick prayer and decided that type-advantaging things with Flygon was as good as anything.

* * *

She had a problem when facing Calem, but apparently, Serena had next to no trouble dealing with Lysandre. She had Flygon for the Pyroar, and the Mienshao was quickly taken down by Juliet's Psybeam. The Honchkrow, once again, was a problem that even Mawile's Fairy Wind couldn't solve, but her other attacks did well enough against it.

As for the Gyarados, the Water-type that she'd wanted a Grass-type to stand against?

The thing could Mega Evolve. Changing from Water/Flying to Water/Dark did nothing to help the Grass/Ghost Pumpkaboo, who tried to put up a fight before the inevitable loss, but Pancham was willing to take on the beast himself.

And, it turns out, was surprisingly capable, as long as Serena kept a steady supply of Hyper Potions to use every third turn.

Lysandre was so shocked at his defeat that the Master Ball containing Yveltal fell to the ground. Calem took the opportunity to take it back, and placed it with his other Pokémon to keep Lysandre from taking it again.

"This can't be," Lysandre said to himself, staring at Serena in horror. "You don't even have a Mega Ring! How could you have defeated my Mega Gyarados without a Mega Mawile?"

"Who knows?" Serena grinned and shot a pointed look in Calem's direction. "Maybe I'm just a video game protagonist, and my sidekick had to lull you into a false sense of security."

"I never thought I'd be the Tails," Calem said with a matching smile. "Way to go, Sonic."

Suddenly, applause distracted all of them, and they turned to see that even Sycamore and Diantha had seen the whole thing. The only one missing from the victory scene was Xerneas, and judging from the crashing over their heads, it was still in the base.

Lysandre recovered first. "You've won the battle," he said, "but you can't win the war! The weapon has enough of a charge to blast Geosenge Town, and then the world will fear us! We won't need to kill people if they accept our help without increasing their demands!"

"Would you listen to yourself?" Calem caught sight of the reasonable adults, and called them over to help him. Once they were standing in proper position, ready to become human shields to save the kids, Calem started on his improvised speech. "What if these two were destined to have a baby someday?"

"What are you doing?" Diantha hissed in confusion, even as Shauna squealed the squeal of a million shippers at the thought of said hypothetical baby.

"Play along," Calem whispered back, and raised his voice again. "Imagine if these two were meant to combine their DNA. They are two of the most beautiful people I have ever met, any kid of theirs will be all the beauty sucked from the world in the past twenty years combined into one flawless face. Team Flare's supposed to be all about beauty, right? They can give back what the world took away. And think even harder...just imagine the manipulation capabilities of such a face. They could convince people to share the food off their plates with just a little bit of flirting."

Lysandre paused, the look on his face fading from determination to reluctance. Serena's teeth ground together as she waited for her friend to make his point and shut up.

"Think of it, Lysandre," Calem said, his voice losing the hard edge of desperation it had held at the beginning of his speech. "You can trigger the machine and kill us all, or you can put it away, get yourself some psychiatric help, and be the honorary uncle to a girl who can cause traffic accidents by stepping outside in pajamas and bedhead, or a boy who…" he trailed off, taking a good look at Professor Sycamore, and a dark thought crossed his mind. "A boy even…prettier than his father…" He groaned. "You know what, never mind. Kill us."

"Calem!" every one of his allies cried together, even the still-in-the-open Pancham, but the last part was not heard by his enemy. Instead, Lysandre looked at his friends, almost remorseful.

"Augustine," he said, voice suddenly weak. "Diantha. I only wanted to help the world, believe me. Did I…go too far?"

Diantha buried her face in her hands and let out a furious, muffled scream. Sycamore took a deep breath, and then he exploded.

"Yes, Lysandre! You _went too far!_ If you wanted to help Kalos, then you could have tried running for government, or funding a program that would find ways to keep our valuable resources for as long as possible, or even do that kind of science yourself! Not…" he gestured to the weapon's control panel, "whatever made you think that _this_ was a good idea!"

Lysandre flinched as his friend's words cut him where his loss to Serena could not. "I see," he said, almost too quiet to hear. "And I know what must be done. You and Diantha…take care of each other."

There was a moment of silence as Diantha slowly lifted her head. "What are you saying?"

Lysandre flicked a switch, and the weapon made a loud sound as it gathered the energy it had collected from the legendary Pokémon. "I am damaged. Far too damaged. But you're not beyond repair."

Tierno was the first to get it. "Tell me he's not…"

But he was. "So, stick around here, make things better."

Recognition flashed in Diantha's eyes. "Lysandre…"

"There's enough energy to take out the base and the weapon itself," Lysandre explained, "but the elevator won't fit all of us. You have two minutes to evacuate. I suggest you use them." He looked back at his friends. "I'll trade my life for yours. All I ask in exchange is that you try your methods of making the world a better place...and, if you two ever do have a child, you name it after me."

Sycamore faked a smile. "I think we'd love our child too much to ever name it after you, Lysandre."

"Middle name?"

"We'll see."

Diantha quickly shooed the children down the hall, and Sycamore followed. Lysandre double-checked the coordinates, triple-checked the wiring, anything to waste his time until he was sure that they were out of the blast zone.

Then he pressed the button.

Then he sprinted to the elevator.

* * *

The pile of rubble and the giant hole was all that was left of the Ultimate Weapon. There was no sign of Xerneas, or even Team Flare. Not even Lysandre.

Dexio and Sina had shown up soon after the weapon's destruction. Sycamore and Diantha had left soon after. Nobody could blame them for wanting time away from the world. Lysandre was crazy, and certainly no hero even after destroying the weapon, but he was still a friend, and Serena could tell that they all genuinely cared about each other. She could only imagine what it would be like if Calem or Shauna had gone crazy and tried to end the world, only to have a change of heart by _being a shipper_ and sacrificing themselves in the hope of _the OTP having babies…_

The others all left, one by one. All except for Calem, who sat down next to her in the grass before looking up at the starry night sky.

"So," he said after a moment of silence. "Do you want to talk?"

"Not really." Serena shrugged. "Not about what happened down there."

Calem nervously tapped his fingers on his knee. "It's just that…well, I'm sorry for using Sycamore and Diantha as an example, but he named them on the transmission, and I thought that we could…"

A laugh bubbled in Serena's chest before she was aware of it, and she couldn't even keep it low. "I'm not mad," she promised, surprising even herself with how true it was. "They haven't denied anything that was in the magazines, even then, but you know what? I don't care. They are the least useless adults in the Kalos region and they _would_ have pretty babies. If I can't have him, I can trust her to take the role. Besides," she added, giving him a sly smile, "I still have an active imagination in my dreams."

Calem immediately leaned over the side of the hole and made a loud, fake vomiting noise. Serena's laughter turned into a near-shriek, and she toppled onto the grass.

Calem's joking mood wasn't to last. "They say that Lysandre might have survived," he said slowly. "Enough exposure to Xerneas can give a person the ability to survive things that should be fatal, even if it doesn't make them fully immortal. That's what I heard Dexio and Sina telling the professor, anyway."

"So, if they're not lying to make him feel better, Lysandre will be thrown in jail, I guess. Probably won't put up too much of a fight."

"Not if he wants to see his too-beautiful-for-words honorary niece or nephew," Calem finished. Serena playfully punched his arm. "Hey, I was almost serious."

"I know you were. And thank you for apologizing, even though I wasn't offended. You're a great friend, Calem."

She thought she saw him open his mouth to reply, but whatever he was going to say died as Xerneas reappeared, its X-pupiled eyes locked on Serena.

She stood up, and slowly held out her hand. Xerneas stepped closer, then bumped Serena's hand with its nose, thanking her for letting it wake up.

Serena had a different idea. "So, do you want me to catch you? Calem has Yveltal, so I thought I'd ask…"

Xerneas looked her over, then slowly nodded. But, as Serena reached for her Master Ball, the legendary turned away.

She got it. "Next time, then?" Xerneas nodded again, then looked down in the hole. "Oh, you're going to look for survivors."

"We should let it," Calem decided. "It has been a _long_ day. And I still have one last badge to win."

"In Snowbelle City," Serena said, suddenly remembering. "Oh, I hope Dad isn't too worried. He knows about what can happen on a Pokedex journey, he's heard about Kanto and Johto and Hoenn and Sinnoh and Unova and…"

"And us," Calem finished. "And if anything, that just proves that Pokedex carriers are practically invulnerable themselves. Hey, maybe we're part of a whole _series_ of video games…"

Serena's laughter was contagious, and they joked all the way to the Pokémon Center, the only building still standing, to keep their minds off the horrible incident that had taken place in Geosenge Town. Just for one night.


	33. Aftermath

**In which Serena almost gets over the professor, and Calem gets over his jealousy.**

When Calem and Serena left the Pokémon Center the next morning, they found AZ standing in front of the hole, staring down. It was a much longer look down for him than it was for our heroes, but when they entered his vision, he started to speak as if to them.

"After all this time…this was all it took to destroy the weapon once and for all?" He looked from one Pokedex carrier to the other. "Which one of you did it?"

"We all did," Serena answered. "I defeated Lysandre in battle, my friend made a speech, and Lysandre himself blew up the weapon."

"He could be reasoned with?" Now AZ was genuinely impressed. "It's astonishing that even at my age, you really do learn something new every day."

"It barely classifies as reasoning," Serena clarified, and Calem nodded along, accepting it. "So, what about you? Did you have to put up a fight against the Team Flare grunts guarding your prison cell?"

"It barely classified as a fight," AZ said, almost fully aware of the conversation now. "I may not have the Pokémon I have been waiting to meet, but I have made other friends."

"But none like _her,_ huh?"

AZ didn't take his eyes off the hole. "Imagine your first Pokémon…the first one you ever had…becoming so disgusted by your actions, even if those actions were for the greater good, that it left you. Both of you, wandering for so long entire decades started blurring together. Never meeting in all that time…"

Serena couldn't. She wouldn't have done what AZ had done, wouldn't have even considered it. But still, AZ had acted out of anger and grief, and now had to face the consequences for as long as his immortality held out.

Speaking of…

"So, are we immortal now?" Calem asked. "Me and my friends and our Pokémon. Will we never die?"

"Time will tell," said AZ, "but I would not count on it. I was affected by the same charge that brought my friend back to life. Back when the weapon was not used as a tool of destruction."

"Any advice, then? Just in case we are immortal?"

AZ turned to leave. "Find me if you have not changed in fifty years," he decided. "This is not a fate I would wish on anybody…but if I had company, I might change my mind."

* * *

They rode Yveltal to Anistar City, ignoring the fact that it technically didn't know the move "Fly" that the League had actually certified. They stopped there again, and they finally got to take a good look at the sundial. Calem didn't even try to keep Serena on the predetermined path, even though he knew her dad was waiting for them in Snowbelle City.

But there was one more thing that they wanted to do before they left.

Phantump and Pumpkaboo were floating in front of the trade machine, looking up at their trainers in confusion. Calem just smiled innocently.

"Don't freak out," he said, and Phantump was instantly reassured. "You did the best you could against that Pyroar, and you took it out of the battle. You're as much a part of the team as Pyroar or Scizor."

"And you were great against Lysandre, too," Serena promised Pumpkaboo. "We'll just trade you over, let you evolve, and trade you right back. It's what we did for Scizor."

That made up their minds for them, and they quickly retreated back into their balls. Once they had evolved and were returned to their proper trainers, Serena turned to leave.

Calem reached out and grabbed her hand, holding her still. "Where are you going?"

"I thought we were done."

"Of course not. You want a Pangoro, don't you? Just hand over Flygon in case we encounter any Fire-type specialists on the way."

"But the only Dark-type in your party is…" Serena's mouth fell open into a tiny O shape as she realized what he was willing to do. "You're willing to part with…"

"Temporarily," Calem specified. "But we only promised AZ that we'd keep these Pokémon out of the wrong hands. You beat Lysandre when I couldn't. You can handle this."

"And it will be good practice for the future," Serena said, more to reassure herself that she could handle it. "Why not? Let's do it."

Once _that_ trade was completed, and she and Calem were standing outside the Pokémon Center, Serena released Yveltal to give it a mission.

"Ok, Yveltal. We need to get to Snowbelle City, and soon. Take us there!"

Yveltal considered for a moment. "Maaw-haaw!" it cried, and it fell over and played dead.

Serena sighed, not having expected much in the first place. "I guess I don't have enough badges to control someone else's legendary."

Calem nudged Yveltal with his shoe. Other than a slight twitch, there was no response at all. "No, I think it's just laziness. One ride per day, I guess."

Serena called it back into the Master Ball. "Let's hope it's still willing to battle," she said, and then they finally headed off to Route 18, where, hopefully, they could get Pancham to evolve.

* * *

Having a legendary was not something that they could get used to in a day. It might have been because Calem hadn't done anything to earn Yveltal's trust and Serena's lack of Gym badges, or maybe the so-called Death God was just that lazy. But at least it managed to trigger Pancham's evolution.

With all of her Pokémon in their final forms, Serena was proud of herself. Of course, Calem had helped, and she was proud of him, too. He didn't need to let her borrow Yveltal.

But it wasn't too much of an out-of-character moment for Calem. A stop at the Couriway Town Pokémon Center was enough proof of that, as he asked for his legendary back. "I have three Pokémon that aren't weak to Fire. I should have them all."

"Having a Dragon-type isn't too much for you?" Serena laughed and followed him into the building. "I'm almost insulted. I put a lot of work into raising that Flygon."

"Don't worry, your work is recognized." And he dragged her back to the trade machine anyway.

But the quest to Snowbelle City wasn't all about evolution and trades, and the sight of a dark-haired man in a lab coat was proof of that.

"Professor?" Serena asked, unsure if the man in front of her was the same one she'd spent most of her journey trying to impress.

But he turned, and there was no mistaking that handsome face. "There you are. I was starting to wonder if I'd chosen the right town."

Professor Sycamore was a little bit off, his voice and his hands a little too shaky to be considered 'all right.' But he was doing better than the people on TV, at least.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Calem asked. "I thought you and Diantha left to go dig through Lysandre's things and claim some of his better inventions as your own."

Sycamore ignored the last bit. "I came to thank you," he said, sounding genuine about it. "I have to admit that I blame myself for Lysandre turning out the way he did. I was there when he made his comments about how useless humans were, and yet I assumed…well, you have to understand, this is the same man who said he was going to start practicing voodoo because somebody cut him off in traffic."

"I get it," Serena promised. "Lysandre was crazy, but not the kind you'd notice if you watched him slip into madness yourself."

"It isn't right that you had to do what Diantha and I should have done ourselves."

Calem shrugged it off. "Hey, I probably shouldn't have used you and Diantha having a baby together as my way to get him to stand down. We're pretty even on that. Unless, you know, you guys really ARE…"

He stopped, looking at Sycamore in horror. The professor held out his hands to show he had no crossed fingers. "I can assure you that, at this point in time, Diantha and I have not even discussed the possibility." He still didn't deny the relationship, though. Calem glanced toward Serena, but she genuinely didn't seem to care more than what was necessary for a disappointed glance at the ground.

Calem could live with that. "So why are you here, then?"

"I've come to request that you have a battle with me."

Serena almost asked why, but Calem shook his head. He was pretty sure that what Sycamore was asking for was not just a battle, but the defeat he felt he deserved.

And who was Calem to turn him down? It was, after all, the one thing he was better than the professor at.


	34. The Battles on the Bridge

**In which Yveltal actually does what Calem wants it to do.**

With Yveltal willing to battle, at the very least, Calem's victory was quickly assured. Even the Charizard had no threat to Calem's team anymore. He used the typical type advantages for the Venusaur and Blastoise, obviously, but from the way the professor seemed almost happy to see Yveltal, Calem assumed that part of the reason that his opponent had challenged them was to see the legendary in action.

When Charizard, the last of Sycamore's Pokémon, had fallen, the professor called it back, almost laughing. "Thank you. That battle cleared my mind, strange as it is to say."

"I'll be happy to turn the power of Yveltal on you at any time," Calem promised. Serena glared at him, and he laughed at the sight. "Come on, Rini. Did you really expect me to _not_ say it?"

"No," Serena finally admitted. "But could you not have said it to his face?"

"I don't mind," Sycamore promised. "I've had worse threats, from people who had less right to their anger than Calem does, and much less than you should. You had to fight my battle for me, Serena."

"I'm a Pokedex carrier. It was my duty." Serena's smile wasn't the near-Diantha level of making Calem's head spin, but it was real enough. "I want you to be happy, Professor. And facing Lysandre with only three Pokémon of your own would not have made you happy. But your research, not having to worry about Team Flare…Diantha…" her voice cracked on the name, but she didn't fall into jealousy as Calem had suspected. "That's what does."

"Speaking of Diantha," Calem interrupted, "will I get to kick her butt in battle, too? Lysandre was as much her problem as he was yours."

"A little bossy today, aren't you?" Serena hissed, but Sycamore had stopped to think over his answer carefully.

"Diantha is currently on set," he told them. "She's determined to see this project of hers through to the end, no matter what inner conflict she's battling. But, yes, she is waiting for her chance to face you in battle."

"Can you arrange a meeting for us, then?"

"I believe she won't have an opening in her schedule until you have your last badge," Sycamore told him. "At the earliest. She and I have a few things to discuss first, the least important being shutting down a few rumors claiming that our 'secret relationship' may be coming to an end." His thoughts trailed off, and he started talking to himself instead of them. "Of course, that would be taking away the last lingering shred of secrecy we have…not that we can't divert attention…"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Calem asked.

Sycamore returned to the real world, but provided no answer. "Go and get your badge," he instructed. "Just trust me when I tell you that I'm proud of you both."

* * *

After leaving town, it wasn't long before Calem and Serena found a bridge. And it wasn't long after they started to cross that bridge that they encountered the other Pokedex carriers.

"How are you?" Shauna's statement was a generic greeting for friends, but they knew it was a real question. Most people didn't defeat a criminal mastermind in battle, though it was starting to become a little more common than it should have been.

"We've adjusted," Calem answered for both of them. "What is it you want, Shauna?"

Her answer came immediately. "A battle. We are Pokémon trainers, after all. We'll tag-team it." She gestured to the boys behind her. "Me, Trevor and Tierno against you and Rini. Process of elimination."

"You do remember that I have a legendary, don't you?"

Shauna rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot. Why do you think I came up with a 3-against-2 battle?"

"We all want the honor of fighting Yveltal," Trevor added. "And Serena beat Lysandre, so defeating her sounds fun, too."

"So I go first?" Serena grinned. "I'll try to lose eventually, then. Who gets to be my opponent?"

The three had a quick debate, before Shauna stepped up. "I made the challenge, so I get to go first. Are you ready?"

"Just send out a Pokémon already!"

Shauna immediately sent out a Delcatty. Serena countered with Pangoro, and the battle began.

Despite the promise to lose, it wasn't easy. The Delcatty and Nya were both weak to Pangoro and his Fighting-type attacks, while pairing a Goodra against a Mawile was just asking for trouble.

Tierno was a little harder than Serena had expected. Talonflame took out Pangoro with Acrobatics, but Juliet was able to knock Roserade down with one Flamethrower. And Tierno even managed to beat Juliet with his Crawdaunt's Crabhammer.

Once that battle was finished, Serena the winner, she tagged herself out, partly out of wanting Calem to have his chance and partly to take Shauna's offer to heal her team.

Calem wasn't completely ready for the switch yet. "Have we ever had a normal battle before?" he asked, and Trevor's hand froze over his first choice of Pokeball, confusion on his face.

"I think so," he said, though he wasn't sure himself. He thought hard, then remembered. "Oh, yes, we have. That time by the Day Care, remember? You and Serena against me and Tierno in a double battle."

The memory was fuzzy, but Calem had it, too. "Right, that. You've gotten stronger, too, I hope."

"Probably not strong enough to do anything against Yveltal," Trevor admitted, "but enough to try."

And he sent out his first Pokémon, a Raichu, without another word. Calem considered, and picked Trevenant to open on his side.

He'd save Yveltal for last.

* * *

By the time Trevor was reduced to his Florges, Calem decided to call out Yveltal just for the chance for his friends to see it. Every eye focused on the legendary, and despite the type disadvantage, Yveltal managed to beat Florges.

Trevor called back his last Pokémon, eyes lighting up at the thought that now he could get pictures of the mythical Yveltal, not just in his Pokedex but in regular photographs. "This is so cool," he said, the loss already all but forgotten. "Can I get a picture of it, Calem? I want to prove that I actually faced it in battle."

"Be careful," Calem warned. "It doesn't like to do more than one thing each time it's called out of the ball."

"Can't you tell it to?"

"I can try." Calem cleared his throat. "Yveltal! Pose for my friend."

When Trevor's camera was ready, Yveltal made its trademark annoying sound and dove off the bridge dramatically, falling nearly to the bottom before swooping up into the sky and landing back in front of Calem, wings spread wide. It turned its head to give the boy a gloating look, and Calem almost laughed.

"All right, smart guy," he said, bringing out the Master Ball once he was sure Trevor had gotten good shots. "Let's hope no one else even dares to fight us until we get to Snowbelle City."

"I can do the battling if you want to avoid it," Serena offered. "It's more practice for me, and if I want to be able to beat you someday, I'll need to rely on more than Juliet. And maybe Mawile can finally learn a decent Steel-type move!"

"Steel-type?" He thought, then made a face. "You really don't need to type-advantage your way past my Sylveon."

"No," Serena agreed. "She'd hug a Grimer without a second thought. But it won't hurt me if I do."

She was right about both, and that thought annoyed Calem more than it should. Sylveon should at least be able to recognize the dangers that Poison-types had for her in particular, as she didn't have Mawile's immunity to one of the key Fairy weaknesses.

But he didn't comment. "Are you coming with us?" he asked the others. "I still have one badge to go before I head off to Victory Road. I could always use a few more cheerleaders."

"Not right now." Shauna smiled. "I was actually making plans for what I was going to do after my journey ends. Do you have any plans for yourselves?"

Go home to my game systems," Calem answered immediately. "Get started on a Let's Play channel, like I've been thinking about since before I met any of you. I'd have to pick up a new game on the way back, but it should be fun."

"I have an arrangement with Valerie," Serena added. "But I still need to make a decision on what path I want to follow, and take a lot of drawing classes if I pick the designer route."

"I'm sure she'll teach you," Shauna pointed out. Then she looked back at the others. "What about you? What are you going to do at the end of your journey?"

"I'm heading to Unova," Tierno said proudly. "They have Pokémon Musicals there."

"Can I see one?" Serena's eyes lit up at the thought of Nimbasa City, home of both the Musical stage and the largest amusement park in Unova. And a model for a Gym Leader, of course, which might give her ideas on her own future.

"If you're ever in Nimbasa City," Tierno laughed, "nothing can stop you."

"I'll finish up my Pokedex," Trevor added, to no one's surprise. "After that…I'll probably work with Professor Sycamore to take care of all the loaner Pokémon."

"So why don't we give it a year?" Shauna suggested. "We keep in touch for a whole year, and then we all meet in Lumiose City to make new videos and show off what we've become. Then we'll just schedule meeting dates depending on when we can clear our schedules."

"A new friendship tradition?"

"Yeah! We need to always have a reminder of who we really are, so that none of us ever turn out like Lysandre."

No one could argue with that. But they all agreed to stay in Kalos until after Calem's picture was in the Hall of Fame, just so they could all congratulate him on his victory.

He really did have the best friends.


	35. The Hidden Village

**EDITOR'S NOTE: "We should probably stop procrastinating so much. The chapters get shorter and don't cover as much as we wanted. But at least we're introduced to Wulfric in this one."**

Snowbelle City was cold. Calem had expected that much from the name, but coming face-to-face with the reality wasn't something he'd been looking forward to.

Fortunately, Serena's love of shopping saved the day, and she immediately dragged him to the local boutique before he could freeze to death, even when his Pyroar was acting as a living space heater.

"What about meeting your dad?" he asked, and Serena shrugged.

"He knows me," she pointed out. "He knows that if I'm in town, there's only three places I can be: the Gym, the Pokémon Center, or in here." She pushed Calem into the dressing room with a thick coat she'd grabbed from the men's section on their walk through the place. "I'll call him and ask him to meet us here, if you're ready to deal with it."

"He was an acting Champion, wasn't he? Maybe he can tell me something about who he handed the title to when he stepped down."

Serena looked surprised, like she'd never thought of that, and left him alone to make her call.

The coat would be fine, Calem decided. It looked even warmer than the pink one that Serena had been wearing since Laverre City, and that one seemed to be keeping her as warm as it could.

When he left the dressing room, he found Serena hugging a man that he assumed was her dad. Sure enough, she almost immediately introduced them.

He'd almost forgotten that she'd said she was adopted, but that fact immediately pushed itself to the front of his mind as he took a moment to acknowledge why she'd been open about it. Her father had dark skin, dark hair, and that famous look parents get when they know their child has done something dangerous but is refusing to confess. Serena, of course, had launched into any distraction possible to postpone the inevitable. And the man took the opportunity to keep the 'distraction' as short as possible.

"I have to say, Serena," her father said after all introductions had been made. "I expected you to be here early enough for me to watch your friend battle Wulfric, not only show up right as I'm about to head home."

Calem and Serena shared a nervous glance. "We had to take a detour," Serena said, trying to keep her voice casual.

The man saw right through it. "You were the kids who blew up that weapon in Geosenge Town, weren't you?"

"You can't prove that," Calem protested. Then, after a moment, he added, "And you're welcome."

The man was not amused, but he didn't comment. "I knew you'd get involved, if we're being honest," he finally admitted. "Didn't stop me from worrying. How did your mom take it?"

"She knows we're alive," Serena promised, in the same tone of voice she'd tried to use to hide her involvement in the Team Flare plot.

He saw through that, too. "Which means that you didn't tell her everything."

"We're not telling you everything," Serena said, and Calem wasn't sure if she was simply attempting to play the bratty teenage daughter or if she was attempting to keep their time with legendary Pokémon hidden.

Either way, Calem cleared his throat, interrupting the family reunion. "It's nice to meet you, sir," he said, clearly just a little annoyed. "But I have a question for you. You were an acting Champion, right? Who did you hand the title to?"

"That doesn't matter. He stepped down himself a year later." When he saw Calem's disappointment, he laughed. "But I saw the current Champion, too. I'm sworn to keeping their identity a secret, but I can tell you that it is not a fight you should go into without preparation. You might want to find Wulfric, first." He pulled a handmade map out of his pocket, and passed it to Calem. "There's a Pokémon village hidden in the Winding Woods. He helps the Pokémon there. I figured I should make a map in case you two needed one."

"You found the Pokémon Village?" Serena asked, impressed.

"It was hard, believe me." But he was suddenly distracted by a call, and he immediately explained that he'd have to go sooner than he'd thought, said goodbye, and left the boutique.

"He'll be better at conversation next time," Serena promised. "He was just in a hurry. He was supposed to go home earlier, but the whole mess at Geosenge happened and he wanted to wait for me." Before Calem could protest about the 'next time' assumption, Serena pointed to the coat. "You want that, right?"

* * *

The map they'd been given came with a warning that there were some Pokémon in the woods that did not like people. They figured that if Serena's dad could have found the place with nothing but his own Pokémon to help him, the simple fact that Eddie and Juliet would be walking with them would prove that there was nothing for the Pokémon to be afraid of.

They didn't count on getting lost halfway through.

"Why?" Calem snapped at a tree, sending a scared Trevenant back into hiding. He considered sending out his own to calm it down, but the thought was almost immediately dismissed in favor of his blind rage. "What could we have done to deserve this?"

"Maybe we angered the forest gods," Serena said, so sarcastically she could almost taste the bitterness of her words.

"Don't joke, Rini, this is serious."

"Whatever you say, Professor."

They wandered in silence for a few more minutes, before Calem once again attempted to punch a tree. The only thing stopping him was Eddie, who caught his fist before impact and shook his head, gesturing to the trees where a horde of Trevenant gathered to watch.

"Right," Calem said, pulling his fist from his starter's grip. He reached for another ball, releasing his own Trevenant. He gestured to the horde. "Can you make friends? We need a cheat code to get through this."

Trevenant considered pretending to ditch him. But, realizing that Serena still had his Gourgeist friend, and that he did genuinely like Calem as a trainer, he decided to do as he was told.

The horde did not lead them to the village, but they were at least kind enough to dump them back at the entrance to the forest. It shouldn't be much of a challenge to find their way. They had a map.

* * *

By the time they reached the end of the path, they were both at the end of their patience. But their efforts were rewarded with the sight of a large man with a coat over his shoulders, surrounded by Pokémon from the forest.

The man, who was most likely Wulfric, had his back to our heroes, but the Pokémon did not. A Furfrou barked for them to scatter, and scatter they did, startling the man into turning around.

He didn't seem angry, though. Instead, he seemed like a nice guy. "This place was supposed to be a secret," he pointed out. "Only trustworthy trainers can even know it exists. I took a visitor down here, but I never thought he'd go talking about it to the first kids he saw."

"We're Pokedex carriers," Calem explained, using the simpler statement. "We just finished saving the world from that big crystal flower in Geosenge Town."

"I've heard about that," Wulfric replied immediately. "Should have known Pokedex carriers would get involved. They usually do."

"So why did the Pokémon run away?" Serena asked.

"Most of the Pokémon here ran away from bad trainers. It made them less trusting of people than they should be."

"So you're trying to teach them that humans aren't meant to be scary?" Calem knelt down on the ground, Eddie and Trevenant behind him. A Fletchling hopped out of a flower patch, but didn't come any closer. "Come on, I'm friends with a Trevenant. If he can trust me, you can trust me."

Trevenant, though he failed to see why his opinion of Calem mattered to this Fletchling, held out a long claw, offering it as a branch to perch on.

The Fletchling looked up at Wulfric for confirmation. "Go on," he said. "These kids are all right."

Fletchling ignored Calem and Serena, but jumped right onto Trevenant's hand. Serena slowly reached out to touch it, and it allowed itself to be touched.

"You see?" the man said, as Serena moved out of the way so Calem could stroke the Fletchling's head. "I told you they could be trusted."

Fletchling chirped its agreement.

"So my father said you were the Gym Leader of Snowbelle City," Serena said. "Or, if not, he said we could probably find him here. That's part of why we came."

"Then I should head back." Wulfric laughed. "After all, I wouldn't want to keep challengers waiting any longer than I have to."

Once he was gone, Serena looked back at Trevenant, who now had not just the one Fletchling on him, but had somehow gotten a Furfrou and an Espurr to attempt to climb him. He looked almost as annoyed as Calem had been when making his final speech to Lysandre.

"Should we stay here, or head right to the Gym?"

"Stay," Calem decided immediately. When Trevenant complained, Calem laughed. "Sorry, Trevenant, but you look miserable, and it's kind of funny."

Trevenant growled, like he was an animal instead of a sentient plant. **"Just for that,"** he said, wishing that Calem could understand what he was saying, **"I hope that Professor Sycamore and Diantha do have a baby. A boy even prettier than his father. Who gets recognized for his good looks before whatever you've got starts to fade from old age. And..."**

 **"Let's not go any farther,"** the Furfrou still on the ground warned. **"We don't want him spontaneously getting the ability to speak to Pokémon and going insane and hurting us."**

Trevenant shrugged. **"The worst he'd do is send me back to my ball. Not a nightmare."**

 **"But what about the rest of us who can't go back into their balls?"**

 **"He won't do that,"** Trevenant promised. **"He's too kind for that. And too much of a weenie."** He looked up at the Espurr pouncing his head. **"But could you all at least let me go? Having something climb around on my head is very uncomfortable."**


	36. Deep Snow

**If you listen carefully, you might hear the editor's scream of frustration that we are still barely ahead of the readers.**

Calem didn't need to guess what type Wulfric specialized in. Given the name and temperature of his location, Ice-types seemed the easiest guess. He borrowed Juliet and Pangoro from Serena, just in case, and walked into the Gym.

What he did not see coming was the puzzle necessary to get to Wulfric in the first place. It was almost like a giant Rubik's cube, covered in snow and trainers, glowing mockingly as Calem attempted to solve it.

"It can't be that bad," Serena pointed out. "There's only three colors and none of them are jumbled. How hard could it be?"

They soon found out. Calem made it as far as defeating the first warm-up trainer (though he wasn't entirely sure if using the word 'warm' in an Ice-type Gym was the proper word in any context) before he had a thought. A thought that could only be put into one sentence.

"Forget this, we saved the world!" He turned to the warm-up trainer. "Does Wulfric have a secret passage to his area, or not?"

"I don't know," was the immediate answer, as the trainer backed away a little bit. "I never asked. He told me to stay here until I needed to take a break, and then he went to go prepare for who I assume was you."

"We'll have to ask someone else, then." Calem looked back at the Gym guide, who hadn't been helpful at all, and led Serena back to the entrance.

"You're not quitting, are you?" The guide still had that stupid, creepy smile that he'd had when they had arrived. "That's no way for a Champion to behave."

"But I'm not the Champion," Calem pointed out. "I'm the challenger. A challenger who has defeated Professor Sycamore in battle twice, talked a rampaging maniac out of blowing up the world, and is currently carrying the Pokémon regarded in this region's mythology to be the god of death itself. Do you want to mess with the man who controls Hades? Because that's no way for someone who wants to live to behave."

"Calem!" Serena scolded, but the guide was reacting exactly as Calem had wanted.

"Chill out, man," he said, the creepy smile finally disappearing. "I was just trying to help."

"You can help me by telling me the secret to reaching Wulfric," Calem insisted. "And never saying anything that could possibly qualify as an ice pun ever again."

The guide took a moment to think. "Huh. I guess that was easy to interpret as a pun." When Calem showed no sign of backing down, the guide gestured back to the puzzle. "There's no shortcut. Wulfric himself takes this puzzle every time. The trainers just know to leave him alone."

Calem looked out over the white and the lights, attempting to see if he could see any part of Wulfric out there. Then he started trying to judge the distance to the Gym Leader from where he was standing.

"If there's no shortcut, I'll make one," he decided. He opened the Master Ball on his belt, and the guide stared in horror at the sight of Yveltal. Serena just followed Calem's lead and climbed onto the bird's back.

She wasn't sure she liked Calem openly threatening someone who wasn't a Team Flare member. On the other hand, she knew she definitely preferred having a shortcut than having to solve a puzzle. So, in a way, she supposed it evened out.

* * *

Wulfric did not seem surprised that the boy he'd met only hours earlier had a legendary. He must have kept a note of how often Pokedex carriers seemed to get involved with legendary Pokémon, as well as everything else that they got into despite being young and unqualified.

As Calem sent out his first Pokémon, Serena took a moment to think that she and Calem should have Sycamore warn the other professors across the regions. Five of the professors had already had their turns to pick kids to save the world, but had all failed to notice a pattern (unless Juniper was deliberately picking kids she knew she could trust, or consulting a psychic before handing out starters, or actually was psychic herself) and Serena was sure that there were more than six regions. It was only a matter of time before Pokedex carriers would be called in to deal with alien invasions or something stupid like that.

But, despite her distraction, the battle had already begun. Calem had started with Eddie, deciding that Wulfric might end up picking a Rock/Ice Pokémon in preparation for something Fire-typed. That had been a mistake, as the Abomasnow was evenly matched to the Chesnaught and ended up winning the round. Then Calem brought out Pyroar, and not even Wulfric's Hyper Potion could save Abomasnow from the Fire Fang attack.

Wulfric's second Pokémon was a Cryogonal. Once again, Pyroar's victory was assured from the start.

"This is what you throw at trainers coming in for their last badge?" Calem taunted, confident that Pyroar barely had a scratch on him. "Maybe I won't need to bring out another Pokémon, after all."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, boy," Wulfric warned. "We're down but not out."

"Yeah, but Ice is weak!"

"Says the boy with half his usual team weak to Fire," Serena said, not quite soft enough for them not to hear it.

Calem made a face. "I would appreciate it if you didn't bring that up to my opponents, Rini. I have a reputation to uphold."

"Not much of one," Serena teased, stretching out in the viewer's seats as she hugged Sylveon for more warmth. She'd traded away her two best cuddle Pokémon for her friend to have a better shot at winning, and she was currently slightly more bitter than she'd been when entering the Gym. Sylveon herself seemed more distracted by the fact that Calem had once again refused to let her take part in a Gym battle, and was currently attempting to wiggle out of Serena's arms and tag Pyroar out for her turn. Serena hissed a "no" into her ear, and Sylveon let out a loud, obnoxious whine of disappointment.

Wulfric's final Pokémon was confusing. It looked familiar, sort of, but Calem couldn't remember seeing this one before, even in pictures. It was something that the Gym Leader called an Avalugg, which appeared to be an upside-down iceberg with a right-side-up face, smaller icebergs holding it up.

"So," Calem said after a moment, when a shared look with his own current battle partner showed that Pyroar was just as confused as Calem was, "is it pure Ice, or is it a dual-type?"

Wulfric didn't answer. Calem hadn't really expected it.

"Ok, Pyroar," he said, deciding that he didn't really care and could always look it up later, "Flamethrower."

And, like Cryogonal and Abomasnow both, Avalugg fainted after one hit, concluding Calem's easiest Gym battle ever.

* * *

With his new Iceberg Badge in hand, Calem and Serena headed into the Snowbelle Pokémon Center with very vague instructions on what to do next. They knew that the Pokémon League was the final stop, but even after Wulfric and his Gym guide gave them directions to Victory Road, they weren't willing to let their journey end, and they had become close enough to be open about that.

"That doesn't make us bad people, does it?" Serena asked, almost worried. "We saved the Kalos region, and maybe the world, because we were sent on a Pokedex journey. Are we waiting for danger again?"

"I don't think so." Calem shrugged. "I can't speak for you, but I like running into my friends sometimes. I didn't have many friends before I moved, and I still don't know where any of you live. Once this journey's over, you'll be back to Laverre City, and Trevor will go back to Lumiose, and Shauna and Tierno are leaving for different regions."

"So am I, someday," Serena reminded him. "I still have to decide what I want to do under Valerie, but with any luck it will involve a lot of travel for photoshoots. But you know where Trevor and I are going, so you'll still be in contact with us." She smiled and leaned close to his face, in what bystanders could easily mistake for another teasing almost-kiss. Calem forced himself to think of other things. "But don't worry, I can't go too far too soon. You and I have a date, remember? Portal 2 and constant friendly murder?"

He actually had forgotten about that. He would have asked her again, eventually, but the whole thing with stopping Lysandre had wiped the fact that he already did from his mind.

"And you still have to relocate Xerneas," he reminded her. "And we probably have our fossil Pokémon waiting for us, remember?"

"And that should be our first stop after the League." Serena looked into the distance, where she could just barely see the castle that held the Elite Four and Champion. "We should go. We don't want to keep them waiting any longer than we have to."

"They've waited this long," Calem pointed out, but he was already starting to think about his promised Tyrunt. He wondered what kind of personality it would have, and if it would be able to stand up to Scizor when the Bug-type attempted to steal its Pokepuffs, and how it would get along with Serena's fossil Pokémon.

But he knew that the longer he spent thinking about it, the longer it would be until he actually found out for himself. They switched their Pokémon back, took Eddie and Pyroar from the nurse, and decided to stay in Snowbelle for the night. In the morning, they would set off for Victory Road, prepared to enjoy the last of their time as adventure partners.


	37. Victory Road

**In which we write an important battle out of continuity.**

As a side effect of setting out as soon as they were fully dressed, by the time they actually made it to the entrance to Victory Road, the guard at the gate was more awake than Calem was. Since Calem had eight badges, there was no reason why the guard should have made him stay longer than he had to.

Serena, on the other hand, did not have eight badges. As a result, she was immediately pulled aside.

"Only trainers with eight badges can pass," the guard said, in that cheerful morning-person tone that Calem hated so much. "So, I'm sorry, but you have to stay behind."

Serena took a moment to let it sink in. This guy was giving her a hard time, just because she hadn't bothered to make an already long journey even longer by adding her own gym battles to Calem's. If she had, Lysandre might not have been stopped, and then the world would have been ended by a giant crystal flower.

"What?" she finally said, once it was clear that, yes, he was going there. "I'm sorry, but _seriously?_ My friend and I have done everything together – everything since we first got our starter Pokémon – and now you're trying to separate us because I don't have any badges?"

"I don't make the rules," the guard tried to say, but Serena was not feeling up for that right now.

"A battle," she suggested, her hand already reaching for Juliet's ball. "If I win, you let me pass so that I can cheer my friend on when he enters the Hall of Fame."

"I have eight badges myself," the trainer pointed out. "But I don't see why not. I like to battle."

Calem was awake enough to realize that this poor trainer had no idea what he was getting into. And what was even better was that Calem was awake enough to enjoy the result.

* * *

The Victory Road in Kalos was, as expected of all Victory Roads, a cave containing a maze only the use of several HM moves could solve. Or, if the challenging trainer was a very creative Pokedex carrier, and was accompanied by another creative Pokedex carrier, uses of non-HM attacks that weren't used in the way they were intended.

Such as, for example, using a Delphox to use her psychic powers to levitate a Strength rock aside, or having Yveltal carry them across the water where they were expected to use Surf.

"This is fun," Serena commented as the giant bird not only got them across the Surf parts, but also made both trainers and wild Pokémon to leave them alone. "You have to lend me Yveltal when I'm going through Victory Road myself."

"Better yet, I'll be your navigator." Calem couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not giving up my legendary so you can trash the Elite Four and Champion. You'll have Xerneas by then, so you won't need Yveltal."

Serena huffed and rolled her eyes. "Good enough, I guess."

But Calem noticed the pout, and struggled to keep from commenting. Instead, he decided that a subject change was what they needed. "Are you going to get your badges as soon as I make it to the Hall of Fame?"

Serena thought it over, staying quiet even as Yveltal landed and they started walking again. "No," she said after a while. "I might not take the Gym challenge for a while. Not in Kalos or any other region. I love to battle, it's fun, but…"

"But it's not your favorite thing," Calem finished. "I get it. I'm always surprised at just how much the world revolves around Pokémon battles, too."

"I'm still kind of glad it does, though," Serena said quickly. "If it hadn't been for the world's unnatural obsession, we might not have been able to even challenge Lysandre, he would have just flipped the power on and destroyed everything." She stopped walking, thinking it over. "I'll still take the Kalos Gym challenge, though. I have a family to fit into, after all. But world travel will still be my top priority." She paused again, and sounded almost nervous when she continued. "You can come, too, if you want."

If it had been any lighter inside this cave, Calem would have checked to see if she was blushing. But he didn't.

He still decided to tease her, though. "Asking me on a second date before our first? I'm surprised, Rini."

Serena rolled her eyes again, but she couldn't help but smile this time. "You're really that desperate to date me, Xavier?"

"No!"

"Prove it."

He couldn't. And that was the hardest part to explain.

* * *

Once they were safely out of the first round of caves, Serena came to a stop. Calem almost asked why, but she simply gestured to the ruins.

"I want a picture of this," she decided.

"Do you have a camera?"

"You doubt my tourist instincts, Calem," she said, nose in the air as a display of mock offense. "All that talk about exploring and you doubt me?"

"Sorry." He almost laughed. "I guess I was just so focused on the League that I didn't consider you'd want pictures, since you said you were coming back eventually."

"The first time through is always better," Serena pointed out. "Especially if you have a friend with you."

"You're starting to get cheesy."

She opened her mouth to reply, but caught herself and stuck out her tongue. "Better keep that one to myself," she said quietly.

"Cheese pun?"

"Yes." She held her head in her hand. "And it wasn't even a good one."

"Go on," Calem encouraged, actually laughing this time. "I won't push you off the side. Promise."

Serena looked doubtful. "Never. It was so bad, I'm going to _lie."_ She thought about a new one, and then faked a smile. "Well, I can't just _swiss_ off my cheese, Calem."

Calem stopped laughing. "Yeah, you're right. The lie was terrible, I shouldn't have asked about what really crossed your mind. I might have to challenge you to a battle for that."

"You wanted to hear a cheese pun!" Serena protested. "I am not going up against the boy with a legendary, ok? Not after I lost to him so many times before he caught it."

"Fine," Calem agreed, "but once you have Xerneas and the playing field levels out, I will have my revenge."

Serena pulled a camera from her bag. "We'll see," she said, and took the picture she wanted.

* * *

The Pokémon League building was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful buildings they'd seen – and, since they were in the Kalos region, they had seen a lot of pretty sights. But they agreed that nothing could compare to the fear and awe they both felt when they saw that castle.

It was another thing entirely once they had healed their teams and gone inside. The moment they entered the hall that led to the Elite Four's rooms, they immediately saw a familiar face.

They hadn't encountered her in person before, but they knew her at once from the Holo Caster. She was the reporter who had told the world about the incident at the Pokeball Factory.

And, surprisingly enough, she recognized them immediately, too. "I should have known you were going to show up sooner or later." Her voice was rough, as if she'd been dealing with her own personal trauma. "And you're every bit as pathetic-looking as I thought. You won't stand up to the four of us, much less the Champion."

"We stood up to Team Flare," Calem pointed out, and the woman laughed sharply, the sound bouncing off the walls in a way that sounded less like an echo and more like others joining in.

"I have heard that," she agreed. "It seemed to me as if you were having a bit of beginner's luck. You weren't even a trainer for very long, were you, boy?"

"No," Calem admitted, "but I never said that I was the one who put a stop to Lysandre's plans. I just said that I stood up to him."

The woman's eyes darted to Serena. "So would I be wrong in assuming that the girl is the one who wants to challenge us?"

"No, that one is me." Calem looked toward Serena, who smiled in encouragement. "She won't be facing you for a while."

"Shame. I would have wanted to see the true power of the one who defeated Lysandre." The woman looked Calem up and down, shrugged, and turned to leave. "Let's get on with it, shall we? I don't want one of my last matches as an Elite Four member to be wasted on a trainer with no talent."

"I have plenty of talent!"

"Then show me." She gestured to the doors ahead of them. "When you're ready, you can find me in my room. My name is Malva – it's right there on the door to the Blazing Chamber."

That's when she left, not a single word of encouragement to her challenger.

"One of her last matches?" Serena asked, trying hard to think. "Is she planning an undefeated reign or something? Why would she know that you're one of her last matches?"

Calem had an entirely different train of thought. "Blazing Chamber," he repeated, before slamming his palm into his face. "I should have known there would be a Fire-type specialist here! I'm not prepared for the Elite Four! I'll lose to her!"

"You have Yveltal," Serena pointed out.

Calem stopped to consider it. He had to admit, the thought of Yveltal making Malva's Magmortar (not that he knew she had a Magmortar, it was just the Fire-type that his brain had supplied) faint just by looking at it was amusing. And, if the Magmortar or whatever it was she used against him could face the angry look of a so-called death god, he could always Oblivion Wing it.

Yes, Yveltal was perfect. He was going to save it for the Champion battle, but he really couldn't afford to send out anything else.

"You're a genius, Rini."

"No, I'm not. You're just an idiot for overlooking the obvious." She grinned and pushed him forward. "Now, on we go! We have a date, and I don't want you to cancel because you were scared of losing!"


	38. Storming the Castle

**We couldn't do as much as I wanted to with these characters, but with the Elite Four, we almost never do.**

Once inside the Blazing Chamber, to Calem's surprise, they found that it was not hovering over a pit of lava. It did have two tall pillars of fire, but Malva herself was sitting on a throne at the back of the room, not even pretending to be a dragon.

"The Champion said to take it easy on you," she said once Calem had taken his place at the battlefield. "But, considering I'm all but fired anyway, she shouldn't have any control over my actions."

"She's still your boss," Calem reminded her, his hand twitching toward the Master Ball. "If you're all but fired, shouldn't you be trying to get back on her good side?"

"There's no recovering from where I stand." She stood up, still not impressed with Calem. "Still, I suppose she'll be watching me with a surveillance camera or two. Just to make sure I play by her rules."

"She'd put a surveillance camera in here?" Calem looked around, but there was no sign of anything in a place where it wouldn't be destroyed by the fire.

"Who can tell? Perhaps her friend rubbed off on her."

With a little smile at their confusion, Malva chose a Pyroar as her battle partner. A female Pyroar, from the look of it, and one that matched her trainer's confident look.

Calem had a confidence of his own as he sent out Yveltal.

"Maaw-haaw!" the bird cried as it took its place on the field. Calem and Serena watched as Malva's Pyroar let her ears twitch back, like a pet Meowth encountering a Charizard for the first time.

Malva either didn't notice or didn't care. "It's just a Pokémon," she told her Pyroar. "Any other Pokémon can be beaten! Yveltal is no different!" Pyroar whined a little, but Malva ignored it. "Open with Flamethrower!"

Calem had a counter for that. "Oblivion Wing!"

It took three hits instead of one, which was a little unfortunate. But Yveltal won the battle, and proved why legendary Pokémon got to be legendary in the first place.

* * *

The second member of the Elite Four was completely unfamiliar. And Calem knew that if he had met this guy before, he would have remembered.

The man, who announced himself as Wikstrom, was wearing a suit of armor on a normal day, not even on his way to a renaissance fair, and it was clear just from looking at him that he was a Steel-type master. But the strangest thing about him was not his outfit, but how he seemed to even speak like an old-fashioned knight.

"So you are the pair who defeated the wicked Lysandre!" His voice boomed, echoing slightly in the room called the Ironworks Chamber.

"That would be us," Calem confirmed, one hand reaching for Pyroar already. This shouldn't take too long.

"My heartfelt thanks to the brave knight and fair lady. Surely, you are more than worthy of what our Champion has planned."

"You're going easy on me, too?"

"I must honor the decree of my superior." Wikstrom removed a Pokeball from his belt. "If she says that you get an easier fight, I shall make it so. It is the least that I can do."

And he sent out a Scizor. Calem momentarily considered sending his own Scizor to battle, and almost did when he saw that Wikstrom's Scizor didn't have a Mega Stone.

In the end, however, he didn't want this journey to go on any longer than it absolutely had to, and he went with his first choice. Scizor would probably enjoy being the last resort against the Champion, anyway.

"Pyroar! Fire Fang!"

This one went down in a single shot. But at least Wikstrom admitted that Calem had been fair.

* * *

Third in line was the Dragon-type master. Her name was Drasna, according to the sign in front of the Dragonmark Chamber, and once they reached her, she was much more normal than the first two.

"You've defeated two of us already?" She didn't stop smiling, but it wasn't creepy at all. "I expected it to take longer, even with the Champion's new rule."

"Wikstrom used a Scizor when I had a Pyroar." Calem shrugged. "Malva was a little harder than that."

"But that does explain a few things," Drasna laughed. "Do you plan to use a type advantage to defeat me, too?"

Calem thought of Sylveon, but he didn't say yes. "It all depends on how you plan to counter Ice or Fairy Pokémon. Wikstrom made the mistake of assuming I didn't have a Fire-type on my team."

Drasna's smile turned a little bit smug. "Then tell me. Do you have an Ice-type, or a Fairy-type?"

Calem reached for Sylveon's ball. "Take a guess."

So she did. She threw her Pokeball, and out came a purple seahorse-like creature that looked covered in sewage. Calem had his suspicions, and Serena's Pokedex confirmed it to be a Dragalge, a Dragon/Poison hybrid. No doubt she sent it out to counter any Fairy-types her opponent chose.

Calem immediately took his hand off Sylveon's ball. "Good guess."

Drasna's laughter grew louder. "Do you have any other Pokémon that can type-advantage over a Dragon?"

"I don't think I have a Pokémon that can type-advantage over Poison," Calem admitted. But he already had a different ball in his hand. "But I do have one that might work. Scizor, take it down!"

The red Pokémon appeared facing Calem, as if scolding him for keeping him out of the action for this long, but immediately turned back toward the Dragalge and prepared for the battle to begin.

Drasna called the first move. "Use Surf!"

Scizor took the attack, and the wave sent him so far back he almost crashed into Calem. Calem, in retaliation, held his Key Stone above his head.

"Scizor, Mega Evolve and show off your Iron Head attack!"

The transformation was as immediate as Serena remembered, and Mega Scizor launched right into the attack as soon as the light faded. But Dragalge wasn't going down in one hit, and hit again with Surf. Calem and Scizor decided to follow with another Iron Head.

After the third round of Surf and Iron Head exchanges, both trainers decided to use a Full Restore to bring the Pokémon back to full health. Of course, once they were both ready to fight again, the exchange of the same attacks continued as if there had never been an interruption in the first place.

In the end, though, Drasna was restricted to a single Full Restore for each Pokémon she used in battle. This is what allowed Calem and Mega Scizor to claim their victory.

* * *

After defeating three of the Elite Four, Calem entered the Flood Chamber feeling more confident than he'd been since he began his challenge. He had Eddie to face whatever this Siebold guy threw at him, and if for some reason Eddie wouldn't be as effective as he could be, he could use Trevenant or Yveltal instead.

So, when he approached the throne and saw a man, his blond hair somehow both flat and fluffy, he almost forgot the fact that if he won this battle, he would go up against the Champion, who might not hold herself to the same standards that she asked of her minions.

Fortunately, Siebold was more than willing to remind him.

"You do know that the Champion might not take it easy on you?"

Some of Calem's confidence slipped away, but he answered with as much of what remained as he could. "It doesn't matter if she does or not," he said. "I regularly defeated the girl who defeated Lysandre. I can take the Champion, no matter what she decides to do."

"If you can even reach her."

"This battle's already as good as won. She's the only real challenge in this building, if that."

Siebold's serious demeanor cracked just a little bit. "Then let's see how much of that confidence you deserve. Go, Barbaracle!"

For what was not the first time, Calem found himself at a loss for words at the new Pokémon standing in front of him. He'd even seen a Barbaracle before, even if he'd never learned what it was called.

But his momentary confusion didn't stop him from picking up his Chesnaught, and he was rewarded with the opposing Barbaracle looking mildly terrified.

Siebold, like Malva, wasn't impressed. "So that was where your confidence came from," he said, as if it were a new observation. To him, it might have been. "But I'm afraid I've prepared for Grass-types on this one. Use X-Scissor!"

"Spiky Shield!" Calem called, and Eddie put the barrier up seconds before the X-Scissor hit.

Now Siebold looked afraid. "I forgot it could do that," he admitted. Then he shook it off. "It can't keep it up, Barbaracle! X-Scissor again!"

Shaking off the damage from the Spiky Shield, Barbaracle went back for another attack. Eddie was hit this time, but Calem went with a different plan.

"Wood Hammer!"

The attack hit Barbaracle directly in the chest, and the opponent fell directly at Siebold's feet, unable to continue the fight.

Siebold called Barbaracle back into the ball. "I suppose you did deserve to have that level of confidence, after all. You've defeated all four of us, which means that you get to battle the Champion."

"And tell her that I might not have made it if she didn't set that one-on-one rule," Calem said, trying not to laugh.

Siebold didn't seem surprised. "She told us you might say that," he said. "She set the rule in the first place because she wanted to battle you herself. She was looking forward to it."

"She's heard of me?"

"I don't think there's a person in Kalos who hasn't heard of you two by now." He said it completely seriously, which made Calem a little bit nervous. He hoped that there weren't any rumors going around that he and Serena were Flare agents that had a change of heart.

He didn't want people to think he wore that uniform.

But Siebold all but shoved them out of the Flood Chamber before Calem could ask him what he meant, and he felt he had no choice but to simply heal his team in preparation for one of the biggest battles of his life.


	39. The Woman in White

**In which we make another slight detour from the path of the games.**

The Champion called her own room the Radiant Chamber. It certainly looked like a place that would be called 'radiant.' Before they even saw the Champion's throne, both Pokedex carriers agreed that no name would be more fitting – it made Calem think of the angels on TV, while Serena said she was reminded of a fairy tale princess's tower.

Which meant that neither was surprised when they saw that the Champion was none other than Diantha.

Seeing their complete lack of shock, Diantha had to smile. "It is a little bit of a giveaway, isn't it?"

"I can think of worse things you could have done with the place," Calem promised. An annoyingly red café came to mind, but he pushed the thought aside before he could say anything.

"I thought so, too." Her acting dropped, and he could see that she was barely functioning better than the professor had been. "I'm sorry for not getting involved sooner. Lysandre had…a reputation."

"Professor Sycamore told us," Serena said quietly. "We understand."

"It doesn't matter if you understand or not. This was my job, and I let it go because I didn't investigate into every little thing he threatened to do…"

"You were still doing more to get involved than you could have," Calem pointed out. "You could have just realized that there were two or more kids with Pokedexes and natural talent on the battlefield and stood back to let us handle things. But you tried not to. So, thanks for that. Bronze medal for trying."

"I should have done more," Diantha said, "but I can't change the past. All we can do now is look to the future…and the changes it has in store."

"Yeah, Malva mentioned she was pretty much fired." Calem forced a smile that Diantha did not return. She didn't seem to be listening.

"Lysandre was a wake-up call," she said instead, half to herself. "I was so caught off guard by what I let happen that it made me rethink everything. And I was talking to dear Augustine just this morning, when he said that his battle with you helped him clear those thoughts out of his own head. I'd like you to do the same for me."

"Using our League battle?"

"Of course. As both a Champion and a failure, I ask you for your help. If you win, you get into the Hall of Fame."

"So what are we waiting for?" Calem picked Yveltal to go first, choosing to start off strong. "Send out your first Pokémon, Champion!"

Diantha immediately followed orders. "Go, Hawlucha!"

As Calem stared at the bird he'd had to cheat to beat in Korrina's Gym, he started to wonder if maybe he was a little less prepared than he'd thought.

* * *

Yveltal overpowered Hawlucha, as a legendary was expected to do. But when Diantha called out a Goodra as her second choice, Calem immediately switched to Sylveon.

"You chose type advantage over the power of a legendary?" Diantha asked, and Calem shrugged.

"It'll work, won't it?"

"It might."

"Good." He pointed at Goodra. "Moonblast!"

The Moonblast hit Goodra before Diantha could even call an attack of her own. Goodra couldn't make it past the first attack, and Sylveon made a loud, happy sound as she bounced in place, the 'ribbons' by her ear and on her neck dancing hypnotically.

Then Diantha's Gourgeist appeared, and Calem withdrew Sylveon to call in Pyroar instead. One Fire-type attack later, and Diantha sent a Tyrantrum out to fight. Calem switched Pyroar for Eddie this time.

"You're a little underwhelming for a final boss," Calem pointed out, and Diantha gave him a slightly irritated look.

"I'll admit that I'm not at my best today," she said, "but could you pretend we're on even ground, here?"

"Sorry." But he was grinning, and it was hard for his opponent not to smile herself. Even when Eddie won the round, and Tyrantrum was replaced with Aurorus (which was even easier for Eddie to defeat with Fighting-type attacks) she started to understand what Augustine had told her.

Battling Calem actually could put things in the proper perspective. Who knew?

* * *

Diantha was on her last Pokémon before Calem had lost his third. The one she had chosen was a Gardevoir, and Calem knew to expect that the Gardevoir held a Mega Stone.

Sure enough, he was immediately proven right.

"Gardevoir!" Diantha reached for the necklace she'd played with when talking to Sycamore in Coumarine City, and now Calem could clearly see a stone that was identical to his. "Mega Evolve and use Moonblast!"

Calem watched as Gardevoir transformed, its 'dress' getting much puffier and the 'heart' on its chest seeming to grow the other half. He wasn't too impressed. "Sylveon, fight the Moonblast with a Moonblast!"

Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir launched their attacks together. The artificial moons collided in the air, raining shards down on both Pokémon. And then, after getting hit with one shard too many, Sylveon finally fell down, either unable or unwilling to continue the fight.

"Seriously?" Calem and Serena said together.

"Looks like it." Diantha didn't seem to be any less surprised by this than they were, but allowed Calem to switch Sylveon for something much more effective.

After all, he and Diantha had promised a Mega battle. It wasn't his fault that Scizor seemed to be the perfect thing to counter a Psychic/Fairy Pokémon.

Diantha didn't let him enjoy it for long. "Use Shadow Ball!"

Calem started to activate the Mega Ring, but the attack hit before he could. Luckily, Scizor didn't seem to have taken too much damage, and once he was assured of that, Calem continued on his mission.

"Mega Evolve," he ordered, "and finish the battle with Iron Head!"

"Another Shadow Ball!" Diantha commanded, and Gardevoir's attack hit Scizor as he began his own attack. But it wasn't enough to stop him, and in just a moment, Gardevoir was back to normal and being called back.

"Remind me to thank Augustine," Diantha said as Scizor himself returned to normal, his usual smug expression becoming almost unbearably so. "I would have suggested using only one Pokémon myself, as I told the Elite Four to do, but it was much more fun this way."

"And it was easier to get past Malva that way," Calem added. Noticing how the name alone got a brief look of anger before the Champion used her acting skills to bury it, he decided it was safe to ask. "So, is she still fired or…?"

"She isn't fired." But it certainly sounded like Diantha wanted her to be. "We need her until we can find a fourth person who can specialize in just one type, willing to come to the League whenever a new challenger approaches. But I promise, we are looking."

"So can I ask what she did?"

"No." She went to a hidden switch, which opened a passage to what the Pokedex carriers believed was the Hall of Fame. This suspicion was confirmed when Diantha looked back at Serena. "You can't go any farther yet," she said, but Serena stopped her.

"I know," she promised. "I'm not really that interested. My parents both say it's pretty boring."

"We've modified it since they were given permission to enter," Diantha started, "but, I will admit, it can be rather boring at times."

"Why do I have to do it, then?" Calem complained.

Diantha gave him one of her dazzling smiles. "Bragging rights."

* * *

The Hall of Fame was actually not as boring as Calem had expected. He had imagined the walls to be lined with photos of previous Champions and their teams, and he was not disappointed. He tried to locate Serena's parents, but before he could find either of them, he was called forward by the active Champion.

"You should heal your Pokémon," Diantha suggested. "It might not have been a difficult match, but they have all taken damage."

Calem did as she said, not needing to be told twice. As the machine healed his team, he noticed that they were being recorded for history, and smiled to himself as he realized that he would be known by future honorary Champions as "The guy who tamed Yveltal." He hadn't even intended to make a name for himself.

Diantha watched the registration process carefully, thinking things over. "Calem," she said quietly, "you have done nothing but impress me – and dear Augustine – since you first received your Pokedex and your Chespin. Even though Serena was the one who ultimately defeated Lysandre, it was still you who managed to talk him out of using the Ultimate Weapon on the world."

"Yeah, sorry about that." He deliberately avoided looking in her eyes. "I probably shouldn't have used you and Professor Sycamore having kids as my method, but it was obvious he shipped you guys, and…"

"I'm not upset. I wasn't even going into that kind of discussion." She kept her eyes on the machine, and Calem stopped his rambling to focus on her next words. "I was…unable to step in when Kalos needed me. I want to thank you for doing so in my place."

"Serena won that battle."

"And I've beaten sense into Lysandre through battle before. It didn't stop him."

He laughed as a thought hit him. "Too bad he never got to see you and the professor kiss, though."

"Oh, I'm sure he had his fanart." Diantha wasn't even upset by that. "I'm sure he understood why he never got that opportunity. We don't go around being obvious about these things. They run entire articles on our love life _without_ our contributions, and we agreed that my movies and Augustine's research were more important topics of discussion than if we planned on getting married and where we go for vacation. So, we let them run with what little they have and don't deny anything that isn't false."

"Good move."

"Not as good as this one." Diantha turned to face Calem, her smile making him dizzy again. "I want to step down as active Champion and hand the title over to you."

Calem stopped thinking. "What?"

"I know you weren't expecting this," Diantha said quickly. "I wasn't expecting to get handed the title when it was my turn. But who, other than you or Serena, is going to have the power to stop any other threat to Kalos?"

She had a point, he'd admit that. "Do you really think I can be an active Champion?"

"Not right away. But once you fireproof your team with something other than Yveltal?" She laughed. "Oh, it should be fun warning people away from you."

She made the offer more tempting than it should have been. "So you're stepping down? Right here?"

"Well, not exactly. You haven't given a direct yes or no."

Calem gave it a bit more thought, weighing his options for a solid minute before coming to a conclusion. "Yes. Definitely. Absolutely."

"Then I'll hold the title until you can replace Yveltal and come through the Elite Four again. Then we'll have a rematch to see if you're ready. And of course," she added, giving him a playful glare, "the Elite Four will use their entire teams against you."

"Next time, I'll have a Tyrantrum," Calem promised. "Speaking of which, I have to go pick it up, so are we done here?"

"Here, yes. But I expect to see you in Lumiose City soon enough. Augustine is making arrangements."

"You told him I'd be the next active Champion before I even beat you?"

"I told him my idea," Diantha confirmed, "but it's more for your part in saving Kalos. After all, I didn't know if you would agree to my plan until now."

Calem didn't have time to wonder what Professor Sycamore had planned. His registration was nearly complete. All he had left to do was take a picture with his team, and return to Serena. Sycamore's plan would be revealed in time.

He just hoped it didn't involve ridiculous orange suits.


	40. Celebration

**In which a dirty hobo gets his happy ending.**

Professor Sycamore's 'arrangements' were revealed within a week. He had organized a giant parade just for his Pokedex carriers, partly to celebrate Calem entering the Hall of Fame (though Calem had no doubt that Diantha had told Sycamore about the title transfer) and, more importantly, their roles in putting a stop to Lysandre's plans.

What surprised Calem most of all, even while preparing to go on the stage with all his friends, was that his mother was nowhere in sight. If he looked hard enough, he could see Serena's parents, some of the other members of the crowd recognizing them from their Hall of Fame photos and battle demonstrations but others not knowing what they had done to deserve attention. They seemed more interested in being there for Serena than paying any attention to their own small number of fans.

"Your mom's known by everyone who has ever even heard of Rhyhorn racing," Serena reassured him, picking up on why he was a little grumpier than he should have been. "I have no doubt she's watching this on TV."

"Probably." He looked around, noticing that Tierno was nowhere to be seen. "Didn't Tierno try to help us out in Geosenge Town? He didn't leave for Unova already, did he?"

"He's coming," Shauna promised. "He's probably just attempting to put together a routine and lost track of time."

"That sounds like Tierno." Calem looked back, considering sending out Yveltal, but decided against it. Tierno arrived moments later, and they prepared for the professor's speech.

Meanwhile, behind a curtain on the stage the Pokedex carriers would walk up to, Professor Sycamore was having second thoughts about the whole thing.

"I'm not sure if I can do this," he said, looking out at the sea of people that had come to see the newest Champion and his friends. He and his own small group were barely hidden from their sight. "Lysandre's attempt at ending the world wasn't long ago. Admitting that the kids did what was right is not a problem, but to admit that one of my closest friends could even think…"

"It was as much my fault as it was yours," Diantha promised, touching his arm in a show of support. "I could have used my authority as Champion to send an accomplished trainer to shadow him at all times. But I didn't think of it until it was too late." She stared into the distance. "We were both blinded by friendship and his previous actions, Augustine. And if that battle with Calem taught me anything, it's that the only thing we have left to do is give your students the respect they deserve."

"Well said, Diantha."

She smiled innocently. "I have had practice delivering motivational speeches."

He managed to laugh at that. "I suppose you have." And before she knew it, Augustine's arms were around her. "Don't let me do anything stupid out there," he warned.

"You'll do just fine," Diantha promised, but anything else she might have said or done was interrupted by their cue.

* * *

The crowd cheered as the five kids walked down to the stage, but went silent as Professor Sycamore began his speech. Calem was grateful for that. It allowed his mind to wander as the professor talked, praising the kids for their bravery and thanking them for their assistance, not once mentioning that Calem had managed to get a legendary Pokémon out of it.

"And so," Sycamore was saying as Shauna nudged Calem to get him to focus, "it is time for the most important part of this ceremony." He lifted his hand to show the crowd the object he held there. "Our heroes will receive the Honor of Kalos, as a reminder of the courage and determination they showed in putting a stop to Lysandre's mania."

The crowd watched, and Calem barely suppressed his confusion, as Dexio handed medals to Trevor and Tierno while Sina passed them to Shauna and Serena.

There were a lot of S names, Calem noted, before being approached by Sycamore. He didn't have to ask to know that Diantha had told the professor about their agreement. Calem himself had told Serena, though he had also warned her that there was no set date for the title transfer and to prepare for either of them when she completed her own badge quest.

But Diantha didn't know that Serena knew, so he hoped the professor didn't, either.

There was another speech made, but if you asked them later, none of them would remember much of it. The one thing they would all remember was Professor Sycamore closing the ceremony by thanking them once more, the crowd leaving, and a very tall man, roughly two Calems tall, getting to his feet in the back row.

AZ approached the five, looking them all over individually before settling on Serena. "I want to have a battle with the girl who defeated Lysandre," he said. It sounded more like a command than a request.

Serena appeared to consider demanding that he ask her properly, but she dismissed it as his age talking. "Why?" she said instead.

"I want to know what a trainer is."

"Someone who uses Pokémon in non-lethal battles," Serena said, her joking clear to her friends, but AZ's expression didn't change. Instead, he summoned his first choice of Pokémon, revealed to be a Torkoal. Serena had wondered what kind of Pokémon an immortal man would have as his partners, but put the thought aside for the battle as she started with Flygon.

* * *

Serena could use Gourgeist for dealing with the Golurk, but the Sigilyph was another story. Gourgeist could have continued the battle, but the Sigilyph was too intimidating. So, Serena brought out Juliet, who finished the other Psychic-type with a Flamethrower.

AZ took his defeat with a smile, recognizing Serena's strength. "Thank you," he said. "This battle with you…I feel free. Free from the past, from the part of me that built the Ultimate Weapon. From the part of me that inspired Lysandre."

But before either of them could say another word, things got weird. In fact, Calem would, even years later, distinctly remember this event as _the_ strangest thing he'd seen on his journey.

Because, as normal as it was to see a Floette in Kalos, it was definitely not common to see one holding a red and black flower. It was a rare sight to see a Floette with a red and black flower hover between a giant hobo and a well-groomed teenage girl of average height. And it was _bizarre_ to hear a strained but deliberate string of human words coming from the Floette's mouth:

"Give me your shoes."

There was a moment of stunned silence all around. Then AZ started crying happy tears, falling to his knees and holding out his hands for her.

"Floette," he said, and she looked back at him. "It's been 3,000 years…"

Floette said something that was not in human, but looked back toward Serena, waiting for her answer.

Serena held up her hands. "Sorry. I can't part with any of my shoes right now."

Floette grumbled to herself and looked up at AZ, as if requesting that he command this girl to do as she asked, but the ancient king shook his head.

"She's much stronger than I am," he pointed out. "And if you can speak a little bit of modern human language by now, you should know that I hold no more power over this girl than her own Delphox." Floette pouted. But AZ didn't care about her lack of shoes, instead letting her settle into his hands. "Does this mean you forgive me for the ancient past?"

Floette nodded. AZ's tears increased, falling into his hair and darkening his scarf.

Serena didn't know that Professor Sycamore was behind her until she heard his voice. "His Pokémon waited for him all this time," Sycamore observed, sounding a little choked up himself.

Serena wiped away her own tears at the touching scene, then looked at Calem hopefully. "Can we keep them?"

"No, Rini." Calem gestured at the pair of immortals, who weren't paying any attention. "His thing does who-knows-what with shoes, since she can't wear them, and just look at his height! Besides," he added, dropping his voice to a whisper, "between you and me, he smells like he hasn't showered in 3,000 years."

"Calem!"

"Truth!" Calem hissed back.

"I can confirm," AZ admitted, proving that he was listening to the conversation after all.

"I didn't want them as pets!" Serena protested. "You can't keep another person as a pet!"

"You can't?" He removed his hat and put it on her head, getting a shipper's smile from AZ that he tried to hide with his scarf, and a squeal of laughter from Floette. "I thought you were mine."

"In your dreams, Xavier." But she didn't remove his hat. "I was just trying to be nice to people."

"We'll be fine," AZ promised. "We have each other now. We're finally complete."

"Yes!" Floette added, forming the word roughly but accompanying it with a salute.

And the next moment of happy silence was completely ruined by a Fletchling diving from the air, doing a backflip on the way down, and slamming hard into Calem's shoulder.

And the new Champion's scream echoed throughout Lumiose City: "Are you kidding me?"


	41. Epilogue

**Well, readers, it's been fun. Don't worry, this isn't our last Pokedex Adventures story. We're just taking a break.**

 **And I'll admit we might have taken a certain joke too far. But I still think it's funny, and it's up to you to decide if we made it canon or not.**

 _Two years later…_

The stage lights had become like a second home to Tierno and his team. It had taken him a while to get used to the way that Pokémon Musicals worked, but once he had, he had almost immediately started to make a name for himself. It wasn't long before he had a fanbase all over Unova, some of them sending him their own handmade accessories for his performances.

But at the moment, he was not on stage or practicing. He was on a plane, heading back to Kalos to spend the summer with his friends and parents, and maybe make a video for his new Fraxure.

And, most importantly, trying to keep his very bored Crawdaunt from ruining the flight for the other passengers.

"No," he said as Crawdaunt attempted to climb out of his seat. "Don't pick fights with other passenger Pokémon. We went over this."

 **"You said I couldn't pick fights with the _pilot,"_ ** Crawdaunt pointed out, futile as he already knew it was. **"You never brought the passengers into the conversation."**

Almost as if he knew, Tierno gave him that disapproving look usually reserved for parents of misbehaving children. "I will call you back to your ball," he warned. "I know you wanted to see if airplane food was as bad as the TV comedians say, but you're being a nuisance. Stop it."

Crawdaunt looked right back up at his trainer, challenging Tierno's authority, but he eventually relented. **"For the airplane food,"** he insisted as he took his seat beside Tierno.

Tierno smiled smugly. "That's what I thought."

* * *

Shauna stared down at the small mountain of books in front of her, wondering for what was not the first time why she got herself into this.

When she returned from her own trip, she had decided to become a Pokémon nurse. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. She had, after all, watched a medical training video without losing her cookies, and when she started dating the son of a Pokémon nurse, the mother had pulled strings to get Shauna considered for the student program.

But, as it turned out, people had to take two years studying medicine for both humans and Pokémon before picking a path. Applying for the position in the specialized school was hard enough, she couldn't imagine dealing with learning about all the different species in the world.

She thought about calling her boyfriend and asking him to put his mom on the line, just to ask how she'd done it. But she was sure that it would be cheating, and just as sure that the poor woman had forgotten almost everything about her career before she'd started focusing on Pokémon.

"Should we bring up my childhood bet, Nya?" she asked, and her Greninja stared blankly back at her, silently wondering why such a thing would matter when all the applicants had the stomach to deal with such images. Shauna stuck out her tongue, recognizing what her Pokémon friend was saying. "Ok, wrong thing to ask. Do you think Professor Sycamore can get me a letter of recommendation? I was a Pokedex carrier, after all, and he does still like to help people who ask..."

 **"You'd think the Honor of Kalos would help your credentials,"** Nya observed, but Shauna was too deep in her work to even hear her.

* * *

"Thank you for volunteering for this, Trevor," Professor Sycamore said as Trevor lowered his camera, the three starters that the current Pokedex carriers would choose from all posed in a pile. "It should be easier this year, now that they can see the Pokémon they would be choosing before letting them out of the balls."

"It's no problem, Professor," Trevor answered immediately. "I remember that Calem didn't even know what a Chespin was until he let Eddie out for the first time."

"The kids I've picked this year were all born here in Kalos," Sycamore reassured him, "but the oldest of the three is only fourteen, so it wouldn't be a bad thing to give a few reminders."

The door opened without a knock, and Dexio and Sina entered, both looking excited and carrying heavy suitcases. "We just wanted to stop in and say goodbye," Sina said as an explanation. "Alola is pretty far away, after all, and we won't be able to call until the lab is set up…"

"The lab is already set," Sycamore promised. "I considered asking the Aether Foundation for a space, but a friend of a friend has a field lab that you could use for research. Aurea promised that Professor Burnet would keep it in good shape."

"Aurea Juniper also let a coward and a guy with anger problems be Pokedex carriers," Dexio pointed out.

"And let a 'reformed' mad scientist into her lab just because he promised her a chance to see a man-eating dragon," Sina added.

"She believes that the Hero of Balance and her filmmaker friend are perfectly capable of keeping him on their side of the morally gray area," Sycamore insisted, "and if she thinks so, I can't change her mind. I can only hope that the Pokedex carriers that faced Team Plasma would step in if Colress ever…" He stopped, the phrase 'pulled a Lysandre' on his lips, but he still couldn't force himself to say it. "Decides that he's had enough of listening to Nate and Rosa."

Then, for the second time, the door opened without a knock. Trevor watched as Diantha entered the room, an amused but irritated smile on her face. She'd traded the winged coat for a white dress, but she still carried the pink bag, and she had placed a rolled-up magazine in it. But he didn't get to ask what it was about, because she held it out just a foot away from Sycamore's face.

"Four times, Augustine," she said, voice sharp but the smile never leaving. "I've been asked about getting our child a modeling job four times now."

Trevor almost dropped his camera, and he started leaning forward to get a better look at the object in Diantha's hand. The professor's face fell as he took the magazine from her, reading the headline of that particular article before tossing it onto his desk in disgust. "Sycamore Sprout? They're telling the whole world that we're going to be parents, and yet the best headline they can come up with is _Sycamore Sprout_? I thought they'd be more creative than that."

"Augustine!" Diantha complained. "That is not my point! _Four separate people_ have offered our baby a modeling job, and the magazine hit the shelves _today!_ It was funny at first, but now it's annoying. And let's not get into what would happen if Calem ever read this..."

"I didn't know anything about it," Sycamore promised. "If I had, I would have done something."

Diantha immediately calmed down. "I suppose you would have," she said, shoulders slouching just a bit. "But somebody must have come up with this."

Trevor cleared his throat, alerting her to his presence…and the fact that Dexio had needed to physically restrain his coworker to keep her from assaulting the poor actress with questions about the accuracy of the statement. "I suggest you clear this up with the magazine yourself, Diantha," Trevor said, getting the woman to look at least moderately ashamed. "If it's false information, you wouldn't want it to go unchallenged. And if it's not…" He shrugged. "You're telling Calem. Not me."

"I suppose that's fair," Diantha started, but that was when Sina broke free of Dexio's hold, watching in disappointment as the professor hid the offending magazine in his desk.

"So," she said, faking indifference, "according to the article, when would this baby be arriving?"

Diantha waved her hand dismissively. "I'm guessing late January, early February." She gave the lab assistant a sly smile. "Plenty of time to finish up your business in Alola, if I'm not mistaken."

And she let them all sit and take bets on whether the magazine was wrong or right (with Sycamore waiting until all bets had been placed to give them an answer) as she left the room to make a phone call. She needed to have a long talk with her manager.

* * *

Serena still loved to travel. Seeing places she'd never been, sometimes places that hadn't even been put on postcards, never failed to excite her. Still, Kalos was her home, and most of the people she cared about had never left.

Her parents had been proud of her when she came back from Kanto having battled Lance for fun instead of for Hall of Fame entry. Valerie had welcomed her back as a designer apprentice, and she had started her badge quest in Laverre City instead of Santalune City. She planned to meet with Shauna, Trevor and Tierno as soon as possible, but at the moment she had other things to do.

Diantha had replaced Malva with a Dark-type specialist, and the Blazing Chamber was now the Shadow Chamber. But looking at the entry for the Champion's room told her that it was going to be Calem waiting for her. Though the Elite Four were careful to avoid using "he" when discussing the Champion, renaming it the Masked Chamber before she'd arrived was the biggest giveaway she'd seen yet.

Still, she'd had a feeling before she began her challenge. She'd dressed up for the occasion, in an outfit inspired by Mawile: a yellow dress, black flat shoes, and a big black hat decorated with fake white flowers. The hat was her own design, though Valerie had helped stabilize it, and both the Gym Mawile and her own had been more than a little excited about being the inspiration.

Calem had redecorated entirely. While the Radiant Chamber was bright and angelic, the Masked Chamber was dimly lit and painted in darker colors. She knew without having to ask that he'd taken inspiration from the final boss fight of Majora's Mask. On each wall was a mask of one of his Pokémon: Trevenant, Scizor, Sylveon, and Pyroar. On the ceiling was a giant, painted face of a Chesnaught…and on the throne above the Champion's head was a mask of Yveltal.

The Champion himself was busy playing a handheld game, but he'd managed to hear her enter. "Welcome, challenger," he said, not looking up from his game. "You've defeated the Elite Four – way to go! But there's still one more battle before…" That is when he chose to look up, and the scripted speech flew right from his head as he jumped to his feet, the game forgotten. "Rini!"

"Professor X," Serena greeted as Calem ran forward to hug her, nearly lifting her off the ground.

"You finally got the badges!"

"I did." She looked around pointedly. "Fitting that you decorated your chamber like something from a video game."

Calem just grinned back. "Fitting that you recognized it."

Serena laughed, and Calem realized that it had been a long time since he'd heard that sound in person. "What's new with our friends?"

That was the wrong thing to ask. "You know we're going to meet in Lumiose City when Tierno gets in," he reminded her, as if he was hiding something. "And haven't you spoken to Trevor or Shauna lately?"

"Not in a while," Serena admitted. "I know Shauna found a career path and a guy, and that Trevor is Sycamore's errand boy now."

"So that's pretty much all I know." He glared at a magazine that Siebold had handed to him that morning, an obnoxious light in the man's eyes that had made the Champion uneasy before he'd even opened it.

Serena followed his eyes, then picked up the magazine and flipped through it until she saw what she suspected was what made him so irritated. "Sycamore Sprout?" she read, sounding mildly annoyed herself. Then she read the rest of it, and looked up at Calem in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"It's cool," Calem lied through his teeth. "It just got published today. I give them two weeks to either deny it or follow up with a gender reveal. If it's a girl, congratulations to them. If it's bad information, congratulations to me."

"What if it's a boy?"

"You and I both know they won't live that long." Calem looked serious, but Serena recognized that joking tone.

"You said the same thing last year when the press reported that they were engaged. If I remember correctly, you attempted to declare an official state of emergency in Kalos."

He gestured to the offending article. "Because I didn't want _that_ to happen! Their child would have the face of a _god_ , Serena!" He shook his head. "My first thought when I met the professor was that he was so pretty he needed to die, and Diantha is a movie star. I can see their son getting all that perfect hair shaved off the first time he falls asleep in school. At least a girl can claim she's so pretty because of a three-hour makeup routine."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a little?"

Calem took the magazine from her hand and tossed it across the room. "Two weeks," he repeated. "Wait until then and we'll continue this discussion. Right now, we should be Champion and challenger instead of former travel partners. You remember the agreement from our last meeting?"

Serena nodded. "No legendaries allowed as long as Xerneas still gets to be in the picture."

He already held a ball in his hand. "So have you prepared?"

Serena reached for her own. "It wasn't hard."

Calem knew that Serena knew his team. He knew that despite the years, he only had a few more Pokémon capable of withstanding Fire-types. He knew she'd choose Juliet, and had prepared his Tyrantrum for the event.

But when Serena sent out her first choice, Calem realized too late that he'd made a mistake. Serena had challenged his Dragon-type dinosaur with a Fairy-type Mawile.

And both Serena and her Mawile were wearing round, pretty stones.

As he took her into the Hall of Fame at the end of their battle, telling her that he intended to keep his title for some time, he had one more question to ask.

"Are you up for a game at my place tonight? I was thinking of starting a new game walkthrough, but I need someone who hasn't played it to do the playing."

"That depends," Serena said, adjusting her hat and Mega Ring. "What game are you suggesting?"

"Anything you want." He smiled innocently, so innocently that Serena didn't trust him. "Portal, Twilight Princess, anything from my entire collection."

He only stopped to wonder if it was a bad decision when he titled his newest upload 'My Girlfriend Plays Half-Life, Part 1.' But he decided that it didn't matter. She really enjoyed taking her frustration out on virtual aliens, and he wasn't going to take that fun away from her.

And he also learned that he still wanted a shotgun. He just didn't need to load it. After all, a strong team of Pokémon was all somebody needed, but shotguns were still cool.


End file.
